Activision embraces the tablet market with next Skylanders game

Activision announced plans today to launch its upcoming Skylanders Trap Team on Android and iOS tablets on October 5th in North America, the same day it launches on current- and last-gen consoles. This is a big deal for the industry, as it's a tacit acknowledgement by Activision that the tablet market is as important as the console market -- at least as far as the Skylanders franchise is concerned. More important, even, given that the publisher is selling the $75 Skylanders Trap Team starter pack for tablets with a custom Portal accessory that does double duty as a tablet stand and a custom-made Bluetooth controller. Of course, that's not actually how you get the game on your tablet -- Activision plans to release Skylanders Trap Team as a free download with touchscreen controls on the iOS App Store, the Amazon Appstore and the Google Play market. The free version is limited to a small amount of introductory content. Once you pair it with one of the $75 starter packs, you unlock the full game. This isn't the first time a Skylanders game has been available on the various app stores -- Activision brought the franchise to iOS back in 2012 with Skylanders Cloud Patrol, which allowed players to input codes from the retail game to unlock new content. However, Trap Team will be the first Skylanders game that Activision has released across both consoles and tablet simultaneously. Activision's decision to do so is remarkable, if perhaps unsurprising in light of comments made by CEO Bobby Kotick during a conference call with investors earlier this year that the company would seek to reap "sizable financial returns on mobile and tablets" in 2014.