Has Disney Infinity Been Taking Cues From Skylanders?

There's been a lot written about the similarities shared between Activision's Skylanders franchise and Disney's upcoming Disney Infinity. Now, new video footage shows that these common traits may be no coincidence.

In a video about the making of Disney Infinity which was posted and subsequently taken down, an Avalanche employee is shown at a desk with Skylanders figures in clear view as the team goes about designing Infinity. We captured the video before it was taken down and also took a screenshot (see above). The figure appears at the 2:08 mark in the video.

Our Take
Obviously, this makes Disney look like a bit of a copycat, but the idea of collectible figurines that plug into a base was way too close to Skylanders to be a mere coincidence. Still, from what I've seen of Disney Infinity so far, there's a lot more to it in terms of gameplay and creation tools. In many ways, it's a more ambitious project than Skylanders. Whether it's going to be more fun or more successful remains to be seen.