As a hardcore gamer, most probably you’ve never played or even heard of Skylanders’ videogames, but those kids toys have made Activision more than half a billion dollars and continue to bring in more right now.
Only two Skylanders titles have been released till now, Skylanders: Spyro's Adventure (2011) and Skylanders: Giants (2012). Skylanders: Giants was released by the end of October 2012, and still it managed to make $195 million in the two months that followed. The rest of the revenues came from the franchise’s first title, Skylanders: Spyro’s Adventure as well as action figures and physical accessories based on the game’s world.
For comparison, Call of Duty: Black Ops 2 is estimated to have made $1 billion in revenue while Halo 4 is estimated to have made $400 million.