At its investors call this week, Activision revealed that it would be debuting a new mass-market all-ages franchise at this year’s Toy Fair. Today, that title has been revealed as Skylanders Spyro’s Adventure, a brand-new game featuring Spyro the Dragon, who gamers last saw in 2008’s The Legend of Spyro: Dawn of the Dragon. The real question is: why the debut at Toy Fair?

The answer? Augmented reality and action figures.

Skylanders is built around 30 separate action figures that interact with the game through a peripheral dubbed the ‘Portal of Power’. Each action figure represents a certain character, each with their own special abilities. The game and toy line are aiming directly at children and their vivid imaginations, with competitive and cooperative play being available. And the achievements and experience gained with play stay within the figure itself, so players can interact anywhere on any platform, including consoles, a mobile app, and the Skylanders web portal.

The game and the technology behind it are the brainchild of California-based developer, Toys for Bob. The story for the game is penned by Alek Sokolow and Joel Cohen, the writers behind the first Toy Story film.

“These are more than action figures. They are inter-action figures,” said Eric Hirshberg, CEO of Activision Publishing. “By pairing world class character design, world class video game design and world class story telling into one entertainment experience, we’ve given players a whole new genre that bridges the gap between the real and virtual worlds. From the first time a kid picked up a stick and pretended it was a sword, toys have unlocked kids’ imaginations. And how often have you wanted to bring those toys to life, to see them become animated and take them on an adventure? Skylanders Spyro’s Adventure does just that.”

Activision is also joining with Toys R Us to promote the line in stores, with the store receiving several exclusives this fall.

“We began discussing this concept with Activision and immediately knew merging the world of toys and video games together in Skylanders Spyro’s Adventure would capture the imagination of a wide range of consumers, including kids, toy collectors and video game enthusiasts,” said Jerry Storch, Chairman and CEO, Toys’R'Us, Inc. “We believe this product line is among the most exciting and unique offerings that will be seen at Toy Fair this year, and we are excited to partner with Activision to bring Skylanders Spyro’s Adventure to Toys’R'Us stores this fall.”