Activision has announced its latest Skylanders spin-off, a free-to-play trading card game named “Battlecast”. No doubt inspired by the ongoing success of Blizzard’s insanely popular Hearthstone, Battlecast will be completely free to download when it launched next year on touchscreen devices.
Of course, it wouldn’t be a Skylanders game without the presence of physical merchandise. Although you can amass a digital library of cards in-game, booster packs will also go on sale at selected retailers. These can be scanned into the game using the nifty AR features shown in the video above.
We’re still unsure as to how each duel will play out. There seems to be a focus on visuals here, as two Skylanders go head to head on a three dimensional stage. The cards themselves have attack and health points as well active abilities that can be used in combat. At a glance it looks fairly simple yet fun and perfect for the series’ target audience.
Activision has yet to confirm a solid launch date or which devices and operating systems Battlecast will run on.