Parents, that sound you hear is your wallet breathing a sigh of relief. Yes, LEGO Dimensions' Starter Pack is hefty at $99. But it's the only Starter Pack you'll ever need.
LEGO Dimensions is the latest entrant in the toys-to-life video game genre, its chief competitors being Skylanders and Disney Infinity. Skylanders is one of Activision's cornerstone franchises, structured around yearly releases that include loads of new figures to collect. Disney Infinity has adopted the same format, producing new editions every year, usually introducing major new Disney-owned brands to the game. Toys-to-life are figures that can be used in games to unlock gameplay elements.
But LEGO Dimensions' point of entry is higher than the other two games. Skylanders' starter packs are consistently priced at $75. Disney Infinity's first two were the same, but this year Disney dropped its Starter Pack price to $65.
The upside to Dimensions' pricey Starter Pack is that TT Games and Warner Bros. Interactive aren't planning to follow in their competitors' footsteps. Meaning, don't expect a Lego Dimensions 2 this time next year, because there won't be one. What there will be are loads of new level packs and character packs. In other words: add-on content.
Speaking to Eurogamer, TT Games' associate producer Mark Warburton explained that add-ons could (and likely will) continue for years.
"We have a three-year plan at the moment and we've got no intention of stopping there," said Warburton. "We've created the technology to the degree that we're happy it meets our needs for the future. We've created the toy pad so that it shouldn't need to be updated. And we can just create new level and character packs to keep expanding that."
Whether that means LEGO Dimensions will add more media franchises to its 14-franchise roster in the years to come, or simply create more levels based on its existing brands, is unknown.
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