Beyond the immense popularity of its annual war games and subscription-based MMO, a new brand is helping to grow Activision's portfolio of high-value licenses: Skylanders. Built on the foundation of collectible, physical products, the Skylanders brand has spawned a sequel that is already besting initial sales efforts of its original entry overseas.

Though the franchise's first foray into the mobile space has been a success - with Skylanders: Cloud Patrol hitting over 1.5 million downloads since launching earlier this year, according to Activision Mobile VP Greg Canessa - the game lacks the same physical link to the collectible figures. Next month, Activision aims to change that strategy with Skylanders: Battlegrounds.

Confirming leaks from earlier this month, Canessa told Joystiq that Skylanders: Battlegrounds is a "console-like, action-RPG" featuring the same ability to inject Skylanders characters on the fly using a new, Bluetooth-powered portal.