Rumours: Toys For Bob 'On Notice', May Yet Survive (Patreon)

In a previous blog, I posted that rumours were swirling about Toys For Bob, the caretakers of Skylanders, closing down. Since then, new sources related to the company have provided contrasting rumours that the company will remain open for now, pending the sales performance of Skylanders Imaginators on Nintendo Switch and other products. A source at Activision has described the company as being "on notice".

Originally, it was well circulated that the company was set to close, but it seems these plans may have been put on the backburner (at least for the immediate future) as a reaction to recent events inside Activision. They originally planned to cut off some of their subsidiaries in 2017, including FreeStyle Games (Guitar Hero) and Toys For Bob to help their financial situation in light of declining revenue. In a fortunate twist, FreeStyle was rescued and acquired by Ubisoft. With this fresh injection of cash, Activision has seen fit to keep Toys For Bob's employees on, despite earlier plans and senior staffers already leaving.

The situation at Toys For Bob is now unclear and the future of Skylanders will depend on the success of Imaginators within Q1 2017 and in particular, the performance of its Nintendo Switch port. Rumour has it that Toys For Bob will either resume development on Skylanders 7 or a new project soon pending Activision's green light. 

Activision is set to make their call on Skylanders within the next few days ahead of their financial briefing on February 9.