Video game trends are fickle. The last big thing will soon fall, becoming something stores bemoan having to give shelf space to. Music games turn into giant boxes full of heavy parts. Motion controls become laughable devices left out of future skews. Toys to life goes on sale for two dollars a figure to try to clear out stock. Disney Infinity went under in May of 2016, and while its rivals amiibo, and Lego Dimensions seemed fine comparatively, things may be ending for the genre, as Lego Dimensions is also reportedly winding down.
Lego Dimensions was the last major toys to life series to launch, starting on the 27th of September, 2015. Dimensions plucked content from a variety of Warner Brothers properties, from Batman and DC comics to Cartoon Network shows. Some odd choices were included as well, such as Gremlins and The Goonies. Sure, those are classic franchises, but for a game advertised for children, how many kids would jump at the bit to play as Sloth or K.I.T. from Knight Rider?
Lego Dimensions was a very interesting and solid package, but according to an internal email released to Eurogamer, the franchise is ending a year earlier than originally planned. Expansions including Minecraft, Doctor Who, and more DC Comics characters have been canned, as well as a story finale starring the main villain Lord Vortech. A large amount of blame has been set on more obscure franchise packs not selling well, then receiving deep discounts to get them off shelves, slashing income. Worse still was the clip these releases were coming out at, too fast for Traveler’s Tales, the developer, to keep up with glitches and bugs, especially on last gen systems.
Lego Dimensions will most likely not get an official cancellation like Infinity did, as there’s still another Christmas in the books for the franchise. But the developer has already said goodbye internally, and Traveler’s Tales has plenty of other Lego games to focus on. The entire toys-to-life genre is nearing its finale, as even Skylanders, the supposed king of the ring, has no plans for future games. Hopefully Lego sets continue to be released for these franchises for the collectors, and kids get to play with their favorite characters in future game entries down the road.
