There was a time when the toys-to-life genre was dominating the video game landscape, and some of the largest studios wanted to get a slice. Activision ran the very popular Skylanders series, LEGO brought together all sorts of IPs through LEGO Dimensions, Nintendo launched the collectible Amiibo line, and even Disney had its hands in the genre with Disney Infinity. The trend has mostly died down, and most of these IPs have faded into obscurity with their figures filling used game stores. While the industry has moved past this era, some games could live on in a new genre.
One of the highlights of toys-to-life was the crossover potential that the games had. Disney Infinity was one such crossover that brought together all sorts of Disney IP into one game. Players could play as Star Wars characters, run around as Jack Sparrow from Pirates of the Caribbean, save the world as The Avengers, or even attend college with Monsters University. It was a wild crossover, and the concept does not deserve to die with the toys-to-life genre.
Disney Infinity Had a Lot of Potential
Disney Infinity first launched in 2013 and was developed by Avalanche Studios. The first iteration brought together Pirates of the Caribbean, Monsters University, The Incredibles, Cars, The Lone Ranger, and Toy Story. Just like every game in the toys-to-life genre, players would have to purchase plastic figurines of these characters if they wanted to play as them. The starter pack included Jack Sparrow, Mr. Incredible, and Sulley, while all the other characters were locked.
The game itself was nothing special, but it was definitely entertaining. The game offered two different modes called Play Set Mode and Toy Box Mode. Play Set Mode featured different campaigns based on stories like The Incredibles and Toy Story. Players had to own a figure from that IP before they could enter that themed playset, and then they could play through a story from that franchise. These campaigns could be played by two people, but they would have to own two figurines from that series to do so.
Toy Box Mode was where the crossover was, and it allowed players to run wild with their imagination. They could utilize all the different objects they unlocked in Play Set Mode to design their own worlds. They could play as whatever character they wanted and then design whatever they wanted, and these designs could then be shown off to other players via online multiplayer. This was where most of the fun was as it allowed players to mess around with all the different Disney IPs to design their own perfect Disney world.
One of the biggest drawbacks to Disney infinity was that the studio did not fully deliver on the crossover potential. All the different franchises were present, and players were able to explore worlds based on almost all of them. However, the worlds and characters could not interact with one another. There was never a time when Lightning McQueen had to race through Monsters University or Jack Sparrow had to assist The Incredibles. Instead, players were forced to play as characters from the same franchise if they wanted to experience that franchise's world. This made it feel more like a self-contained video game rather than the crossover to end all crossovers.
Two more versions of Disney Infinity launched that expanded the roster and improved the initial concept. Disney Infinity 2.0 brought The Avengers, Spider-Man, and Guardians of the Galaxy to the toy box. Disney Infinity 3.0 further expanded the roster with Star Wars, Inside Out, and Finding Dory. These additions were cool to see, but players who wanted to check out these new characters were forced to purchase a whole new starter kit each time. Couple that with the cost of the individual characters and Disney Infinity could be pretty expensive. The series was retired after the third entry, and there have been no signs that Disney has plans to create a similar crossover adventure.
The Infinity Concept Could Work Outside Toys-to-life
The toys-to-life genre may be dead, but that does not mean that Disney Infinity needs to be. Disney owns some of the largest IPs in the world, and Infinity was able to bring a lot of them under the same roof. People love seeing characters from different franchises interact with each other, but that has mostly been relegated to Smash Bros or Mario Kart clones. Disney Infinity took a different approach through the action-adventure sandbox genre, and it needs to happen again.
After Disney ended Disney Infinity, it chose to release all three versions separately on Steam. These new versions are known as the Gold Editions, which out the need for players to purchase individual plastic figures. These versions included the entire game and all the figures that had been released in one package, and they all have received overall very positive reviews. This has helped these games live on, but it has also shown that the concept could do pretty well outside the toys-to-life genre.
Disney has experimented with other crossover games since, but it has not gone back to the Disney Infinity concept. Players will be able to race against other Disney characters in Disney Speedstorm, they can check out the mobile RPG Disney Mirrorverse, and they can build their own little village of Disney characters in Disney Dreamlight Valley. All these games provide a fun crossover for Disney fans, but Disney Infinity was different. It provided players with a sandbox to construct their own Disney universe, and it allowed players to embark on stories involving some of their favorite franchises.
Disney's slate of IPs has only grown since the end of Disney Infinity, and the three games barely represented the expansive catalog it had to begin with. Crossovers are all the rage once again thanks to games like MultiVersus, and Disney's catalog is rife with crossover potential. Being able to play as Rey alongside Wall-E and Wolverine would be a joy for Disney fans, and revisiting the Disney Infinity concept would be the best way to do that.