Disney Infinity Announced

An ambitious multi-platform Skylanders style experience is coming from Disney this Summer!
Disney Interactive and Avalanche Studios have today announced the development of Disney Infinity, a new video game experience set for release later this year. Riffing off the success of the hit Skylanders action figure cross-promotional franchise, this ambitious new project will take over 30 characters from across a wide range of Disney films and allow players to either play the storylines of these films or roam in a massive open-world called the Toy Box. It's a similar set-up to Toy Story 3: The Video Game, which worked well, only this time there'll be a variety of purchasable action figures that can unlock new DLC storyline experiences. So just how does all this cross-promotional business work? Here's the full guide to the products that'll launch for Infinity...

• STARTER PACK (£45)- This opening package ships with the game itself- Disney Infinity- along with three action figures that can be placed on the Infinity base to kick off the exciting experiences. It is likely that these'll be Jack Sparrow, Sully and Mr Incredible to launch the Pirates Of The Carribbean, The Incredibles and Monsters University narratives, as well as for use in co-operative play and the Toy Box offline/online mode. You'll of course get an Infinity base and an Upgrade Token to use with any of these characters too.
• PLAY SET PACK (£20)- These packs will contain three new characters that will at first help expand the three main storyline games mentioned above, but that later will allow access to more DLC storylines based on classic Disney films. Movies teased in the promotional trailer below for integration into the game include Cars, Toy Story, Wreck-It-Ralph and Frankenweenie, so clearly there's goine to be a wide spectrum of exciting new storylines for players to tackle. Kids will also get a back drop of an actual play set to use with the figures too.
• ACTION FIGURE (£7)- This will be just one Disney action figure, and again whether it just expands set storylines or adds new DLC ones will be revealed with more announced releases in the coming month.
• POWER DISC PACK (£5)- There'll be three Upgrade Tokens provided in this pack to upgrade your chosen characters on the Infinity Base either in storylines or Toy Box mode.

Although there's clearly a cash-milking element involved here for Disney, this project looks like a genuine evolution of what the Skylanders brand, and I'll look forward to providing you with the definitive verdict on the game later this year. Disney Infinity launches on Xbox 360, PS3, PC, Wii and WiiU in June and on mobile and online consoles later in 2013.