The toys-to-life market has seen better days. Once burgeoning on the back of Activision’s Skylanders, Disney’s Infinity, and Warner Bros.’ LEGO Dimensions, now, it’s pretty much a wasteland. The one exception to this has been Nintendo’s Amiibo, which have continued to do consistently well, and which survived the fallout of the crash of the market somehow.
Now, going forward, Nintendo still plans on remaining committed to Amiibo, Nintendo of America President Reggie Fils-Aime revealed in an interview with Game Informer. Fils-Aime said that Nintendo’s approach to the toys-to-life market – where each toy can provide value across a multitude of games, as opposed to being locked to just one – continues to keep Amiibo relevant.
“We continue to be all in [with Amiibo],” Fils-Aime said. “Amiibo within the toys-to-life category has always been different. It’s been a message you can use your Amiibo across a range of different content and experiences. When you do use it, it really does add some significant value. To be honest, I traveled to E3 with eight of my Zelda Amiibo so I could continue to get those items as I put more and more hours into [The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild.]
“We use Amiibo to add value to the experience, versus being a unique game or single idea. It really is leveraging these figures across a range of different experiences.”
Given that Amiibo have yet to see a slowdown- they contribute a healthy amount to Nintendo’s earnings every year, after all- and that Nintendo themselves have moved away from locking essential content behind them, I think in the end, it’s fine if the company wants to keep them around. They’re honestly pretty well made figurines available at cheap prices, if nothing else.