Nintendo and Disney aren't the only game companies taking cues from Skylanders' success: Warner Brothers Interactive Entertainment confirmed plans this week to launch its own "toys to life" game, LEGO Dimensions, with its own line of physical LEGO toys that will unlock additional in-game content.
This is notable because until relatively recently, the "toys to life" genre of games didn't really exist on any significant commercial scale; the term was coined by Activision for its remarkably popular Skylanders franchise, which (thanks to toy sales) drummed up more revenue than Call of Duty in the first half of 2014.
Such figures likely account for WBIE's decision to set long-standing LEGO game maker TT Group to developing Dimensions for home consoles, with the goal of shipping it in September as part of a $100 "Starter Pack" that includes three minifigures, a LEGO Batmobile and enough LEGO bricks to build a "Gateway" platform (seen below) to house a sensor pad that can unlock in-game content when LEGO toys (like the included minifigures) are placed upon it.
Following initial release, LEGO and WBIE intend to continue releasing new toys through at least 2016 that will unlock additional characters, items and "mission-based levels" for use in Dimensions. Due to the broad swathe of IP within reach of LEGO and WBIE, this additional content encompasses a wide range of films -- from Back to the Future to The LEGO Movie and The Wizard of Oz.
