Tag: Skylanders

Activision registers new Skylanders domains – Kao’s Alliance, Super Force, Nano Force, Swap Force [UPDATED]

Post author By J.B.
Post date February 1, 2013

UPDATE 1: Activision revealed Skylanders SWAP Force, the next installment in the popular franchise at Toy Fair 2013.

ORIGINAL STORY: Last month, Activision reported that the Skylanders franchise crossed $500 million in retail sales in the U.S.

Now it looks like the company is set to expand the hot franchise, according to a handful of new domain name registrations made through the internet brand protection company MarkMonitor.

On January 30, 2013, four names were registered: SkylandersKaosAlliance.com (WHOIS), SkylandersNanoForce.com (WHOIS), SkylandersSuperForce.com (WHOIS) and SkylandersSwapForce.com (WHOIS).

The domains were privately registered using MarkMonitor’s WHOIS privacy service DNStination, suggesting Activision wants to keep the projects under wraps for now. There’s little possibility the names belong to anyone else. MarkMonitor is in the business of protecting some of the world’s biggest brands, and Activision’s own Skylanders.com (WHOIS) is managed through the firm.

Right about this time last year, Activision registered the Skylanders Giants domain names through MarkMonitor, which was first reported here. Skylanders Giants was eventually announced a few weeks later and went on to be one the top holiday gifts of 2012.

Given the timing of the latest registrations and last year’s timeline, it’s possible an official announcement may be forthcoming for Skylanders Kao’s Alliance, Skylanders Nano Force, Skylanders Super Force and Skylanders Super Force.

At the time of this story going online, none of the domains resolve to a website.

Talking about this story: Forbes, Joystiq, Geeky Gadgets, TheHDRoom, Games.com, GoNintendo, Nintendo Everything and darkSpyro

Tags activision, MarkMonitor, Skylanders, Skylanders 3, Skylanders Kao's Alliance, Skylanders Nano Force, Skylanders Super Force, Skylanders Swap Force

News Trademarks Video Games

Activision files trademark for Skylanders Sidekick: First look at new characters

Post author By J.B.
Post date April 23, 2012
6 Comments on Activision files trademark for Skylanders Sidekick: First look at new characters

Activision’s legal department has filed a trademark application for “Skylanders Sidekick”.

On April 18, 2012, Activision submitted the filing (Serial Number: 85601600) with the United States Patent and Trademark Office.

The “Goods and Services” in the application cover, “Games and toys, namely, action figures, collectable toy figures, collectable toy figures having radio frequency identification (RFID) chips or tags, action figures having RFID chips or tags”.

No first use date is noted in the application. But, there’s a good explanation for that.

While nothing has been officially announced about “Skylanders Sidekick”, I did find Frito-Lay sell sheets online that describe a program taking place in June that partners with Skylanders to deliver an exclusive offer. The promotion allows consumers to redeem a free “Skylanders sidekick” character with purchase.

The screen shot above was taken from the presentation and shows the sidekicks and their names: Mega Stealth, Super Trigger, Big Grunt, and Mighty Fin. However, according to the slide, the real names are to-be-determined.

Earlier this month, Activision and Frito-Lay announced a multi-phased promotion extending through May 5, 2012.

The promotion with the Sidekick characters appears to be part of Phase 2. According to the sell sheets, the in-store timing is June 18th – July 13th 2012.

Below is another screen shot from the presentation for the lobby/perimeter kit.

Talking about this story: darkSpyro, VG247 and Nintendo World Report

Tags activision, Big Grunt, Big Grunt Skylander, featured, Mega Stealth, Mega Stealth skylander, Mighty fin, Mighty Fin skylander, Skylander characters, Skylanders, Skylanders sidekick, Super Trigger, Super Trigger skylander

News Video Games

SkylandersPatriots.com domain registration by Activision adds to mystery

Post author By J.B.
Post date January 26, 2012

Almost a week after I first reported that Activision had purchased several “Skylanders Giants” domain names like skylandersgiants.com and skylandersgiantsgame.com, it appears the video game company has registered another new Skylanders domain, further adding to the mystery of the company’s future plans for the Skylanders brand.

On January 24, it appears Activision registered the domain name SkylandersPatriots.com (Whois), through the internet brand protection company MarkMonitor, a service that over half the Fortune 100 rely on for online brand protection.

The “Skylanders Giants” story created quite a buzz among gaming and tech sites like Joystiq, Wired.com, and Giant Bomb, but as of today, there has been no official word from Activision.

At the time of this story, skylanderspatriots.com does not resolve to a website.

[Update 1 on January 26, 2012: Reporting Gamer suggests the registrations may be for a Skylanders sports game pitting the Giants vs Patriots.]

Discussion: Wired UK

Tags activision, Activision domains, dnstination, featured, MarkMonitor, Skylanders, Skylanders Giants, Skylanders Patriots, Skylanders Spyro's Adventure, WHOIS privacy

News Video Games

Domains show Activision may create a new game called “Skylanders Giants”

Post author By J.B.
Post date January 21, 2012
3 Comments on Domains show Activision may create a new game called “Skylanders Giants”

Activision, which is a known client of the internet brand protection company MarkMonitor, has apparently gone on a small buying spree for “Skylanders Giants” domain names, hinting that a new game is in the works.

On January 19, the video game company that released Skylanders: Spyro’s Adventure last year, acquired six domains with Skylanders Giants in the name like SkylandersGiants.com and SkylandersGiantsgame.com.

Although the owner of each name is hidden behind Whois privacy, because MarkMonitor is in the business of protecting brands of some of the biggest companies, the owner is all but guaranteed to be Activision.

Here’s the list of names that were registered:

http://whois.domaintools.com/skylandersgiants.com
http://whois.domaintools.com/skylandersgiants.dk
http://whois.domaintools.com/skylandersgiants.it
http://whois.domaintools.com/skylandersgiants.net
http://whois.domaintools.com/skylandersgiantsgame.com
http://whois.domaintools.com/skylandersgiantsgame.net
http://whois.domaintools.com/theskylandersgiants.com
http://whois.domaintools.com/theskylandersgiants.net
http://whois.domaintools.com/skylandersgiants.fr

At the time of this story none of the domains resolve to a website and Activision has made no official announcement.

[Update 1 on February 7, 2012: Activision announced Skylanders: Giants. It is scheduled to be released in Fall 2012.]

Discussion: Giant Bomb, Joystiq, Wired.com, Co-Optimus, Multiplayer.it, VG247, Eurogamer.se, Eurogamer.it, Game Rant, darkSpyro Forums, Shacknews, Family Gamer and NeoGAF

Tags activision, Activision domains, dnstination, MarkMonitor, Skylanders, Skylanders Giants, Skylanders Spyro's Adventure, WHOIS privacy