Prior to more recent releases such as Nintendo’s amiibo line, and even the upcoming heavy hitter, LEGO Dimensions, the toys-to-life category has been dominated by Activision’s Skylanders and the Disney Infinity play sets.
With market saturation in the toys-to-life category now at an all-time high, it appears Disney Infinity may be struggling to maintain sales momentum, with reported earnings for Disney in the latest quarter revealing its Interactive division saw revenue fall by $58 million to $208 million. Operating income was also down year-over-year, falling by $29 million, to break-even.
These results are directly attributed to weak Disney Infinity and catolog sales. Although Disney did not reveal the exact sales figures, it did reveal the slide was due to decreased unit sales and lower average net effective pricing.
Disney Interactive’s performance was the only division within Disney to see revenue fall compared to last year. All other divisions of Disney including media, networks, parks and resorts, studio entertainment and consumer projects experienced positive growth.
Let us know in the comments if you think Disney Infinity can bounce back with its upcoming play sets including a Star Wars themed one, or if you think the toys-to-life category may be at a new phase in its life.
[source gamespot.com]
Comments 62
DI 2 was very disappointing after DI 1. Less game content and all of it very repetitive across the play sets. I was totally on board, but it really let me down, so I didn't buy as much as I did for DI 1. DI 3 doesn't look like it will be much better.
Well maybe they shouldn't of made SOOOO MANY FIGURES!!
Maybe, just maybe Nintendo knows what they're doing after all.
My daughters loved Infinity 1.0. There was a lot of variety in the playsets and things that interested them. They like the Avengers but just weren't interested in the playsets. We've played it 2 or 3 times together. They enjoyed running around in the toy boxes but the load times on Wii U and Xbox One were borderline ridiculous. I haven't pulled the trigger on 3.0 despite the pre-order bonuses because of their lack of enthusiasm and I want to see if they fixed some of the issues.
I personally think that the market's being flooded with all of these Toys.
It's only a matter of time before we have entire Land Fills with nothing but these things in a few years.
Mark my words people.
Is happy with just his Samus Aran Amiibo.
I've always found the yearly model a bit ridiculous, which I think is already a turn-off for most people since it's so blatant. I will say that 3.0 seems like an improvement over the lackluster 2.0, but I just don't see this current model working out well for them in the long run.
I've played Skylanders and I guess it was okay as a game, but not interesting to me; I didn't get what Disney Infinity was actually all about myself, but it had this Skylanders vibe like: buy these toys and there's some kind of game you can play with them. I think what I like about amiibo is that there's a game you play first and second there's a nice figure than can unlock some content or add to it - the game doesn't exist solely as a promotion for the figure.
And yeah they seem to be making a ton of them.
As someone who is entirely outside of knowing about these sort of games, am I the only one who was a bit meh at the idea of Disney Infinity 2 coming out so soon? 3 as well? Everything I heard about the game seemed to strongly suggested it was gonna have long term support for a single game long after release via new toys, and that seemed pretty cool. Just have one mega game that constantly gets new content through DLC...except toys this time. But then they released 2.0...like a year and a half after? If that? And 3 is coming soon I think? So it kinda...throws that whole idea under the bus imo, especially for a newer game series.
Like if game companies keep focusing so much on paid post-game support to such a degree, I feel like releasing more games kinda...takes away from that. Like if Smash 5 was announced at E3 for release next year, you might not be as interested in the current and upcoming DLC I feel.
also parents are not all mega rich, why do people think they are
With Disney Infinity and Skylanders, they kept on popping out more and more games and figures so much that I couldn't keep up. Didn't expect it do bad already for DI, but Skylanders lost me completely.
I wonder why that is...hmmm...maybe, because your pricing policy and your target audience doesnt match up !
You see, Skylanders came first, so it still has its fans that were curious back then because it was something new.
Nintendo has Nostalgia on its side, with many fans old enough and being in a position to finance their collection.
But these super deformed disney figures are clearly aimed at children und thus, targeting an audience that cant pay for them. And parents patience only goes that far. Plus unlike Amiibos, those figures dont really aim for die hard collectors, due to their destinctive SD look.
They destinctively look like figures from a game, not like figures from Disney / Movie history, and the comicbook ones have a more worthwhile alternative.
I think DI2 missed the mark by going so heavy on Marvel. Marvel has made their dollars on the movies. The movie demographic and the DI demographic are completely different. They were so top heavy in Marvel it hurt.
There is a fear that DI3 could suffer the same fate. They are obviously going all in on Star Wars, but Star Wars is still a better brand than Marvel. Plus, Star Wars has some strong female characters which Marvel was lacking.
I hope they can right the ship.i think they have a great thing going.
Here's how you fix DI: YOU DON'T. Disney Infinity was nothing but a cash in on the Toy to Life market. It's so bland and unappealing. Look, say what you want about Amiibos and Lego Dimmensions. You could say their cash ins, but at least they're cool! Lego Dr. Who and a Link trophy! DI didn't really interest me.
So it has begun: The fall of the "Toys to life" scam. Hopefully Amiibo and Skylanders are next!
I have a feeling, that these type of "games" won't have a long future.
Maybe, they will have the same fate as these musical type of games (DJ Hero, Rock Band, etc., whatever series there were ...)
Young people (and children) get's bored pretty fast and tend to forget these stuff sooner or later, if it's not interesting for them in the long run. And when it's not trendy anymore, it's dead (from todays marketing view).
I think a lot of people got annoyed with the 1st game after buying figures like Wreck it Ralph, Jack Skellington and Mickey and found out they didn't have a story to play through- they were glorified skins for the toybox. The 2nd game was worse with only Marvel characters being given any story packs. At least Skylanders is a story any figure from any gen can play through, but even that has gone overkill with figure overkill. People are excited for Lego Dimensions, but it seems to be very expensively priced to get all the content- and you have to ask if it'll really add to the tired Lego game formula.
Even with amiibo you have to ask once the Smash line is finished, what can Ninty make to keep us interested?
The problem rhymes with ilthy asuals. Must be something newer to buy the kids :]
@fortius54 "Plus, Star Wars has some strong female characters which Marvel was lacking."
Though, annoyingly, the one main Star Wars Rebels character they're not including with DI 3.0 is Hera - especially frustrating as she is my son's favourite character!
If there is to be 'fall of the toys-to-life' market, Nintendo will escape relatively unscathed. They won't be stuck with a massive amount of unsold stock. But seriously, I think the strength of Amiibo is that they're not limited to one single series of games. In terms of the strength of IP, I see no reason for Disney to fail but I agree with what was said about Disney perhaps aiming at too young an audience and Nintendo having nostalgia at their side.
It's because it's Disney...nobody wants to play with fairies!
I wish my Amiibo got more uses, but at least they do, in mario kart, smash, and soon mario maker. I really enjoy the Skylander games. They remind me of the glory days of the collectathon platformer, and the characters are all interesting and have unique mechanics. I bought Disney Infinity 2 and wow was I dissapointed. First off, flying characters have a serious advantage, to the point of making other characters unplayable. The included missions were quite awful and repetitive, and the level creation mechanic, while nice, was not intuitive at all. On top of that, the figures were priced far too high to be inpulse buy territory. I have a number of skylander figures, but I've never paid more than $3 for one as they frequently go on sale (and I tend to be a game behind, will get trap team when it goes on sale)
I've never even bothered to tough DI. My brother has ssome skylanders, It's just not for me. I have one amiibo (yarn yoshii). Lego dimensions seems cool.
People acting like DI is a flop because sales dropped slightly in the summer quarter, when there hasn't been a new release of figures since March? Like we always see with any type of video game product, sales are biggest at launch, and then dwindle over time. They're still selling in huge numbers and will continue to do so with the release of the SW figures. With the release schedule they use, of course sales are going to drop each quarter after release.
@Robo-Knight
Tell you what, instead of people sending their LEGO toys to life products to landfills, they can send them to me and I will recycle them (products must be complete, minifigures, vehicles, bases, accessories and other misc pieces)
Kinda makes me wonder how long in general the toys to life genre is going to last. Don't get me wrong obviously Infinity 2 sold well enough to warrant a squeal so I don't think that like tomorrow the whole genre is going to crash but with there now being 4 big competeitors with amiibos, inifinty, skylanders, and Lego I feel eventually the market will get to oversatuarated. Then again I'm not a Economist so what do I really know.
All I know is I'm buying for sure more amiibos eventually and even though I doubt I will get the games any Portal legos for dimensions would be cool to have and Mabel for infinity figuring she won the character poll. It is funny I'm not even a collector of figurines but these few have managed to hit me in the right spot.
I definitely think part of the problem is their execution. In Skylanders you can play as all the characters in the campaign mode. As someone who bought both games for their kids last year, the revelation that most of the DI figures could not be used with the playsets stopped us from buying a lot of figures that we were planning to.
Too expensive! For a full set of characters the cost is not worth it for the enjoyment gained in any of the toys-to-life sets. Lego is the one I find most appealing, but the cost there is huge - £80 the game, £30 per level set/team pack, £14 per character set. There are already about 5 extra level sets announced. I prefer to wait a couple of years and buy second hand or when prices drop to a reasonable level.
@fortius54 It's funny you say that Star Wars has many strong female characters. Oddly enough, I believe there were only four female characters total in the original trilogy with any sort of speaking role. Other than Leia, only Aunt Beru, Mon Mothma and the odd dancing alien with the weird lips from Jabba's palace spoke at all. The prequel trilogy wasn't much better. There was the obvious Padme, but beyond her, there was Zam Weisel (who promptly died), one of the cloners from Kamino, Padme's attendants, and a few Jedi who never spoke. Maybe I'm missing a few, and I'm not familiar with the expanded universe stuff, but the Star Wars movies aren't exactly brimming with strong female characters.
Eh, still ain't stopping me from getting the third game.
@Henmii let's hope that something you like fails next.
I loved DI back when it was DISNEY Infinity.... not interested in Marvel Infinity or Star Wars Infinity.
Just yesterday I preordered the whole Inside Out figure set and Obi Wan. I like some figures but have 0 interest in the game.
I'm not really interested in continuing with DI. The first was interesting enough but the second wasn't too good. The series has a surprising lack of "Disney" characters instead relying heavily on properties they own
@shaneoh
Heh, me too. I already have a 30,000 Dollar Lego Collection & growing!
The Lego Toys to Life Series should be the only exception too the rule.
Sky landers and this are on their way out. They can't compete with Nintendo and Lego.
It seems like they've just gotten so big to where people just get one or 2 figures now. I was thinking about trying it out, but they just keep releasing new editions to where the old figures aren't compatible anymore.
DI was Pixar Infinity, they had a bunch of different play sets and figures across their spectrum. My kids and I had fun playing Lone Ranger and Toy Story, never got the start play piece that had 3 THREE play sets in it, Monsters, Pirates and Incredibles.
DI 2 was Marvel Infinity, 3 play sets of Avengers, Spiderman and Guardians of the Galaxy. And look at their choice of figures, that guy from Guardians w/ the whistle arrow, who wants him? Stitch isn't exactly Bambi or Pinocchio. I bet the Donald Duck figure sold fine, but most older men interested in those Marvel figures were probably turned off by how ugly they are.
So no, toys to life isn't dead, Marvel to toys probably is. Star Wars will sell even though those toys are ugly as well. And the new movie and I believe even all the hype from Battlefront will help sell DI 3 to younger siblibgs.
If Disney ever decides to actually make DISNEY Infinity, whether it's the Princess line - I think they are up to 11 Princesses, or the 8th films of Beauty and the Beast, Tarzan and Ltd let Mermaid, or the classics like Dumbo, Pinnochio, Bambi, Sleeping Beauty and Cinderlla, the toys will once again fly off the shelves.
And if Disney is smart after Star Wars they'll match up the toys to their classic cartoon movie look. Mickey, Donald and Tinker bell are actually not bad. But my guess is next year will be High School Musical and Hannah Montana, Disney seems clueless.
@Edward_J_Grug_III @KingElvis
yes, DI 1 was a great sell for me. A lot of variety in the worlds and play styles across them. 2.0 was pew pew pew. 3.0 looks like more of the pew pew pew. even my marvel loving 6 year old prefers to go back and play the cars and monsters playsets vs. the 2.0 playsets.
Disney has so many classic properties and other than trickling out a few standalone figures, there's been nothing. Where's the lion king playset, or the Aladdin playset. Anything but pew pew pew 3.0.
Lego Dimensions really is looking to come out with a bang.
I was staring at a wall full of DI 2.0 figurines we don't own at Target all of it at 50% off and I just walked away. Never would have done that with 1.0.
My kids fire up the Toy Box in Disney Infinity 2.0 but the Spider Man and Avengers playsets were too similar and uninventive and repetitive. DI 1.0 had more variety and creativity like others have said.
It was a how-do-we-follow-this-up-within-one-year-oh-I-know-Marvel kinda thing. The Toy Box improvements are pretty cool, but it just didn't add up to quite enough. They like the characters and messing around though. It's still an intermittent thrill.
3.0 looks to fix many of these problems, in my opinion, and really, It's Star Wars and seeing how they set up the AT-AT to be destroyed like a toy in that one video made me think the splitting up parts of the game to multiple dev teams is going to breath a lot of life into the playsets this time.
I'm approaching this much more reserved, however. I'm not jumping in at launch, the sales during Holiday are just as good.
1.0 was superior to 2.0 in most ways. It was simple but it offered variety, whereas most of the sets in 2.0 are just the same thing every time.
Their classic characters and films that would sell like hotcakes don't even get proper playsets and instead trickle in as single figures.
I mean, if 3.0 came out with a Beauty and the Beast or Little Mermaid or Alice in Wonderland or Lion King set, I'd lose my mind.
I mean, I like the figures. They're really nice, but 3.0 isn't even on my radar (aside from Mulan).
@rjejr
It was pretty telling when they made a survey to know which character people wanted to see in DI and one of the options is Goofy.
Hard to believe so many characters that have endured decades are getting overlooked like this. They should be selling them so parents introduce them to their kids which in turn would spark new sales and interest in their classic movies for the new generation.
I still want my Unca Scrooge!! Do I have to wait until the 2017 Ducktales reboot?
The market is over-saturated. The "toys to life" genre is going to see a similar fate as the guitar hero/rock band type games. The problem is that they pump these out every year! These companies want their money now and they don't care about the long term. We really enjoyed the first game for the same reason many others have already pointed out. We also bought the second game but disliked if for the same reason others have already pointed out. At the moment, there is no interest in number 3....even though it is Star Wars.
@sinalefa - It's too bad so many of their classic movies have "racist" overtones. I know we'll never get br'er rabbit, br'er fox and br'er bear, and zippity do da is 1 of my favorite movie songs of all time.
And the crow from Dumbo is worthy of toy. W/ or w/o the cigar.
But no, all we get it Pixar and live action, no cartoons. Disney Infinity my ...
Like others have been saying, the market is getting oversaturated, and far too quickly. How about actually designing a good game and give that game more than a year in the spotlight? I've played a bit of DI 1, and while it was a fun distraction, it wasn't anything I'd call close to "good". A few good ideas, but it needs better execution and a business model not lead entirely by greed.
I think Nintendo should have released their amiibo in a different fashion. They should have done specific collections for each gaming series (like they did with the Super Mario line and what they are apparently going to do with the Animal Crossing line).
The Smash Brothers line basically included every single main character in every Nintendo series, and now if Nintendo decides to launch more game specific figures, it will force people to repurchase certain characters (which some may be unwilling to do...).
@MikeW This is what I thought. The Mario line came out but I already had mario and luigi - I had no interest in buying them again (or peach or bowser, etc.) but then there's toad... who now looks NOTHING like the others. Kind of annoying. The same will go for a star fox line if that creeps up. Now they're mismatched. I would have preferred just a non specific line so that there is uniformity across all platforms.
I do like how Nintendo has released these though. Instead of dumping 30 new figures (half of which no one wants, see comments above) but instead trickle them out. If they dumped them out no way I would have been able to afford any of them, let alone all. This has absolutely helped keep their appeal. Every character I use is coming out next month though, lol.
@jakysnakydx
Exactly!
One single series line for all Nintendo characters would have been the best option. It would rule out repeat characters and they would all look good beside one another.
Just think if Nintendo chooses to release a Legend of Zelda line for Zelda Wii U. People will have to repurchase Link, Zelda, Ganondorf, etc...... or if they buy characters they don't have, they won't match with the Smash Bros version of Link, Zelda........
https://www.nintendolife.com/news/2015/06/disney_infinity_producer_brands_amiibo_stock_shortages_irresponsible_and_rude So that explains why they don't have stock shortage of figures like Nintendo have, just kidding.
In all fairness the last new wave of figures they had was around March (I think) and summer times are never too kind to game sales and releases. I'll pick up once the 3rd one is release.
After Skylanders Giants and somewhat Disney Infinity, I'm burnt out with "mandatory" toys to one game or future games but limited features (more so with Skylanders). I'll just stick with the optional toys to life.
I'm sure it will pick up once 3.0 comes out. I have an odd approach to infinity. I buy figures as collectables and don't own a game but I buy amiibo for functionality. Which based on comments I've seen on this site is opposite from many others.
A drop in sales from 1.0 to 2.0 was inevitable. The best-selling platform for 1.0 was the Wii. Since they didn't support it anymore, with good reason, they would have had to really hook a lot of Marvel folks to make up for that. Obviously they got a few of them, but turned off some fans of the first game (myself included) in the process.
2.0 really just fell short when you compared their playsets to other Marvel games of the past and present. And now with all the focus on combat that Marvel demanded, they've backed themselves into more of a corner as far as adding characters. What should Snow White's primary attack look like? It'll be interesting to see how the Inside Out characters play in the toy box re: combat, since their playset is a platformer. It may be a good model to add more classic Disney in the future.
If I remember the hype correctly, the toy box improvements were intended to be the primary feature of 2.0, but that's a tough sell. They need good playsets to get people in the door and the toy box (with the weekly contests, etc.) is there to get people to stay.
Agreed that they need to stop bumping the version number and go the digital upgrade model. Hopefully, with 3.0 they've finally gotten the core engine to the point where they can make modular improvements/additions from here on out. I don't think Infinity as a whole is going away anytime soon, though. Disney Interactive has essentially shuttered all of their other non-mobile development.
@boyika I could say the same about Lego Dimensions as you're saying about Disney Infinity. Disney Infinity is about exploration and creation, whereas Skylanders is just about exploration. I don't see Infinity as just a cash grab, though I think 2.0 was a little bland compared to 1.0. That said I still managed to pickup every 1.0 and 2.0 figure (55) and the Collector's Edition as well. But I think the appeal for many was lost in 2.0's offering. That said 3.0 has a lot going for it, Star Wars, several really talented third party studios, kart racing pack, better dungeon crawler mode, better progressions and gameplay for adventure modes.
I had collected many Skylanders (95), and most Amiibo (48 missing Greninja and Lucario). But going into this next wave of toys to life I'm only planning on collecting amiibo, Star Wars Infinity, and probably the Dark Skylanders pack for Wii U with a flying and water vehicle. Lego Dimensions has it's good qualities but I'll likely wait to pick up any of it until it gets a hefty price cut going on sale sometime in the next six months to year.
Spend any time collecting any of these figures and you'll quickly loose shelf and tote space though.
@rjejr Give them a few years and maybe we'll see some classic figures. They have mentioned that fan outcry is what has driven several of the new characters (Boba Fett, Mulan, Olaf). That's if the whole toys to life balloon doesn't pop with so many choices and options today.
@Ryu_Niiyama All of my Infinity and Amiibo are usable characters, though for my amiibo I've kept them in their boxes while removing the foil sticker so they can be used. I realize it probably cuts their value, but frankly I bought them to use them and see what cool functionality Nintendo gives them. As for Infinity they are nice collectibles and my kids favorite game to play and have fun with.
@Nico07 I don't think toys to life will go away completely, but 4 game series - amiibo, DI, Skylanders and now Lego is probably too many. Lego may run out of licensing deals and Ninteod may run out of amiibo but Disney owns everything adn SKylanders keeps making diferent ones sothose 2 may last awhile. Though I would think at some point SKylanders has to burn out, too many toys. I think Disney could keep making them forever though, they have so many properties. And I think there are still more to come, maybe an MMO.
The advantage over the instrumeents was the conenction Some peoel buy the toys to life for the games, adn some for th efigures. Nobody wanted to just collect a plastic drum or guitar. I'm waiting for a Dragonball Z game myself. Or Godzilla. Or Hanna Barbera Saturday morning cartoons. there are about 4 decades worth of those.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_works_produced_by_Hanna-Barbera_Productions
I think toys to life is in it's infancy, and there will always be toys to life games. Maybe McDonalds will even start giving them away in Happy Meals.
The market now has 4 lines of Toys-to-Life products: Skylanders, Disney Infinity, Amiibo, and LEGO Dimensions. It's getting crowded. Really crowded. At least one of these lines will start to suffer. I guess we figured out which one.
Lego will become a hit, because it's Lego, and it's been around for generations and generations...even adults still build with them. Skylanders I feel will begin to fade out soon, as I don't see the racing game becoming a huge hit like the previous. Disney Infinity was just a game for disney to try and get some money...like every other company. With this being a 'thing' right now, everyone will try to cash in on it, and it won't stop until neither sells anymore. This happened with Guitar Hero, which then came Rock Revolution, DJ Hero, Karaoke Revolution, Tony Hawk's Ride, Cabela games with rifles, Band Hero and Rock Band.
@JLPick I actually think LD might not sale well because of how over priced it is.
@Nico07 I guess you have a point about the gameplay. It's just that the figures and the look of the whole thing is kind of bland and disappointing.
It seems like there's only one or two responses in this whole thread from people that actually understand what's going on here, Peach64 is one of them. It's been an entire year since DI2 came out, of course it's not selling like it did a year ago. The sky is not falling on toys to life or Disney Infinity. Their game is a success, single-handedly saving Disney Interactive, the community is thriving, 3.0 is going to be the best edition yet and with Star Wars enjoying a comeback, it'll have no problem selling.
Edit: the link explains the situation much better than this story does http://www.vg247.com/2015/08/05/disney-infinity-sales-dip-results-in-disney-interactive-revenue-die-off/
@CosmoXY The recent financial results are not talking about comparing 2.0 sales now with at release. All comparisons are year-to-year. So it's comparing 2.0 at the end of its lifespan to 1.0 at the end of its lifespan.
In fact, Disney's Interactive Division has underperformed every quarter of 2.0 when compared to the same quarter of 1.0. You can see the details here: https://thewaltdisneycompany.com/investors/financial-information/earnings
Again, this is mostly at the feet of Nintendo customers who bought the game for Wii, but didn't make the jump to Wii U. Unfortunately, the Wii U version is nowhere near the best version of the game. Otherwise, some sort of bundle to entice marooned 1.0 players may have been a good way to promote some Wii U sales.
@boyika I know I won't be getting it until it drops in price, but I think that since you can use it as a regular Lego brick-type-build, it might do well...at least kids will rush to get some of the characters. Other than that, I guess time will tell on if it will be a hit or not. We have Skylanders, but never purchased any other characters for it...I think they're a little too expensive for what they do. The Amiibo's are just there for collecting, and we only have a few of them (since we can barely find any of them). I think if there's a sale for Lego Dimensions (down to about $60), it would do good, but at $100...yeah...expensive.
@JLPick Yeah, only time will tell. Let's just hope LD will cost 80 dollars and each figure will cost about ten bucks.
Guys, it's not dead yet. And even if it were, so what? Just because you don't like it doesn't mean you have to pretend it's some sin against humanity. Personally, I'm looking forward to 3.0, if only for the Inside Out and Gravity Falls figures.
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