Skylanders Battlecast brings physical decks to the card-battling genre

Activision has announced a new iOS and Android card battling game that will integrate real-world playing cards.

Skylanders Battlecast offers traditional online PvP as well as a single player campaign. Players will be able to add to their card collections either by scanning real-life cards or by purchasing in-game digital packs.

There will also be some AR functionality with pairs of cards embarking on animated duals, with whom players are able to physically interact.

Built from the ground up to bring Skylanders to life on mobile devices, Skylanders Battlecast combines physical card play with mobile gaming in an all-new way,” Activision Publishing CEO Eric Hirshberg said.

This is our biggest investment, and one of our most magical ideas yet, for the Skylanders franchise on mobile.”

Senior VP of product management Josh Taub added: We are bringing physical cards to life in an exciting new way. Activision has assembled a team of experts across video game design, physical card game design, pro card players and top card artists to develop an amazing new experience.”

Skylanders Battlecast is due out in 2016.

Here’s the trailer: