Skylanders Superchargers is just over a year old, and the next game, Skylanders Imaginators, is set to take the helm later this month. Each new game in the series builds on the last with a new gimmick, and this time around players will be able to create their own Skylanders. How is that going to be handled with the toys-to-life theme? Why, 3D printing, of course.
Now, before you get too excited, let it be known that you won’t be able to just build your own custom plastic army. First, Activision itself will be the ones doing the printing, and only a limited number of custom characters will be made. The company has not announced how these lucky figures will be selected, but there will be certain promos and competitions during Skylanders Imaginators’s launch. It’s likely that the winners will have their characters made into real life toys.
That doesn’t mean all hope is lost for those despised by lady luck. Fans of the games know that the toys also come with character cards displaying their stats. Players will allegedly also be able to order character cards of their creations, which will be compatible with the Portal of Power in place of an actual figure. Also, expect wearable t-shirts on top of that.
There’s more. Activision realizes that not all Skylanders Imaginators players might have an internet connection. Instead, the character creator is available as a free downloadable mobile app. Users can create their Skylanders there, or make them on the console and transfer them to the app via a series of beeps and boops. These sounds carry the data, which is listened to and interpreted by the app.
Creating your own game characters in real life is a dream that Activision has been pioneering towards the start of Skylanders Imaginators’s development. “I believe that having a reflection of what you like in your own imagination in Skylanders and in Imaginators and in other things is the way of the future” Toys of Bob co-founder Paul Reiche told Gamespot. That dream seed sprouts into a bud on October 13, 2016.
