Could Microsoft be sitting on an unwitting, nostalgic Xbox goldmine?
If you're my age without kids or younger siblings, there's a good chance you won't even know the game I'm about to talk about. The franchise could be poised for a huge comeback, though, if Microsoft has the vision.
Recently, XboxGamePreservation.com published its first user analysis. The website offers users the chance to vote on games they want to see revived under Xbox's backwards compatibility program, which the firm has been teasing for a comeback to celebrate Xbox's 25th anniversary.
Xbox One and Xbox Series X|S consoles can run a variety of Xbox 360 and OG Xbox games from yesteryear. Some titles like Final Fantasy 13 and Fallout 3 also received resolution and frame rate bumps from Microsoft's emulation tech. But the firm said it had exhausted all legal possibilities for franchise revivals. That was before it acquired Activision-Blizzard, though.
XboxGamePreservation.com's per-franchise analysis shows that Activision franchise Skylanders is by far now the most-requested for revival, ahead of big licensed properties like Transformers and Spider-Man.
Skylanders was originally conceived as a spin-off of Spyro, which is also receiving a new game published by Xbox for 2027. Former Activision studio returned indie Toys for Bob has taken up the reins of Spyro, and had previously worked extensively on both Crash Bandicoot and Skylanders itself.
Skylanders pioneered the toys-to-life genre, which let users buy collectible toys that could "teleport" into the game via an NFC USB accessory. Activision sold mountains upon mountains of the toys and games, but much like Guitar Hero, milked it a bit too hard to the point it fell quite rapidly out of fashion.
Skylanders was really popular in the early 2010s and represents happy childhood memories for millions of Gen-Z gamers who are now emerging into adulthood.
Could Microsoft be sitting on a potential nostalgic goldmine here, akin to how millennials show up for Mario, Zelda, and Pokémon?
Xbox Back Compat and Spyro could test the viability of reviving Skylanders under Toys for Bob
Spyro: A Realm Beyond | Cinematic Announce Trailer - YouTube
Toys for Bob's Spyro trailer is currently sitting on 16 million views as of writing, and while some of that is likely from paid ad-boosting traffic, the comments and celebrations are genuine. Hundreds of YouTube videos celebrating the franchise's revival after two decades offer a hint at the quiet nostalgia that exists for franchises like Spyro, Crash, and Banjo ... and given how dark things are IRL, perhaps some colorful respite might be just what the doctor ordered.
Physical toys are a tricky business without a doubt. Collectible figurine brand Funko POP has been facing a bankruptcy crisis as users opt for similar, albeit much more premium collectibles from the likes of Figma and Nendoroid. But it's pretty clear there's a market here.
Millennials in the so-called "kidult" cohort have driven brands like Lego to record profits. Lego responded by delivering licensed sets based on more adult-facing franchises, alongside nostalgic sets like Ghostbusters and the like.
There's a clear opportunity here for Microsoft and Skylanders, potentially. Microsoft has a truly VAST wealth of nostalgic IP they could tap into for this specific collectible genre, targeting parents with kids, nostalgic Gen-Z'ers, or even older.
It's perhaps the wrong time to be pitching Xbox on new ideas as it looks set to close studios rather than invest in new products ... alas. Microsoft's IP library is clearly its biggest, most untapped goldmine right now. But it would take some real vision and real investment to extract that. Microsoft is typically anti-culture, though, so I'm not sure it is part of their DNA. Maybe new CEO Asha Sharma will change things.
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