Upcoming 'Skylanders' game will bring cards to life on smartphones and tablets.

Activision Publishing is venturing into the world of trading card games with plans for the new mobile card battle game, "Skylanders Battlecast."

Pioneers of the toys-to-life video game category, Activision's newest offering will be a free-to-play mobile game set within the "Skylanders" universe. When "Battlecast launches in 2016, players will be able to purchase physical card packs at retail and digital card packs in-game. As with other "Skylanders" games, the physical cards can be scanned into mobile devices where they will come to life within the game. Players will then create a team of their favorite heroes and build the ultimate deck for battle. 

“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,” says Eric Hirshberg, chief executive officer, Activision Publishing. “This is our biggest investment, and one of our most magical ideas yet, for the 'Skylanders' franchise on mobile.”

"Skylanders Battlecast" will be available on the Apple App Store, Google Play and the Amazon Appstore when it launches next year.

“We are bringing physical cards to life in an exciting new way," says Josh Taub, senior vice president, product management, Activision Publishing. "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. With 'Skylanders Battlecast' fans can expect the amazing creativity, innovation and fun that 'Skylanders' games are known for delivering.”