Toys-To-Life Game Lego Dimensions Ends Prematurely
No official word yet, but sources suggest the series is done for.
Disney Infinity was the first major casualty in the toys-to-life genre, shutting down in 2016. There's no official word just yet, but it looks like Lego Dimensions is the latest death and its end is apparently coming a year early.
Reported by Eurogamer, there are no formal plans to announce the end of Dimensions headed into the holiday season but TT Games Studio Manager Dave Dootson sent out an email with the following message after what seems to be the last update for the game:
"Thanks so much to everyone for making Dimensions possible. As difficult as it has been, it is worth celebrating the incredible achievement it represents in the quality of the game, the amazing blend of IPs and the challenging technical demands it presented. It stands as a real testament to the talent within TT."
A grand plan was in place back in October of 2015, but this news comes a year shy of the 3-year blueprint Warner Bros and TT Studios had in place for Lego Dimensions. It had a decent run, but the writing was on the wall in Year One. The toys-to-life genre of games tapped franchises from Spyro The Dragon to Mario and brought an additional layer of retail by encouraging the purchase of unique figurines that add gameplay elements to their associating games. It's with that additional layer that problems arose.
What set the Lego Dimensions toys-to-life packs apart is essentially what led to its demise. Disney Infinity, Nintendo's Amiibos, and other similar products didn't have an existing company behind them built on toys and could utilize cheaper manufacturing methods for their figures. There's a standard for Legos and their tie-in Dimension packs exuded that same high quality. Those packs in the first year that didn't sell were discounted, but they were already being sold at nearly a loss to stay competitive and any price drops essentially erased what little margin was there.
In Year Two, the plan was shifted to cover more franchises like ET, Beetlejuice, and other classics in addition to the popular mainstays, but with a smaller volume for each. This move and others within the year didn't help to fix all of the issues and expectations weren't met. The team even banked on Ghostbusters to help kickstart their new year, but it didn't go as well as they hoped.
Instead of suddenly dropping things with unreleased content like Disney Infinity, TT Games returned to making their traditional games while working to release the rest of their planned sets. Year Three was going to be a return to the universe-crossing story of the first year, ending with the release of the fan favorite villain Lord Vortech. Barring some miraculous event, Lego Dimension fans will likely not see more new content beyond this holiday season.
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replyCharles Singletary posted a new article, Toys-To-Life Game Lego Dimensions Ends Prematurely
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Dimensions was always going to struggle with the price of the kits being so expensive
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Oh well. We went all in on Dimensions last year for my son. He loves the LEGO games, but he's barely touched Dimensions. I don’t know why. Maybe he likes more focus in his games. Either way, he still loves all things LEGO so having all those minifigs is fine by him. At least you can play with those like real toys, unlike Infinity and Skylanders.
