Activision sells an iPhone game in stores for $50

As Activision expands its popular Skylanders franchise more fully onto mobile devices this week, the company has applied a physical-digital hybrid model to Skylanders: Battlegrounds. The iOS game sells at retail for $49.99, where it comes with a Portal of Power wireless device, three Skylanders toys and a redemption code to download the game from the App Store. The game will also be available from tomorrow directly from the App Store as a standalone app. The game launches this week as part of Activision's rolling out of its own mobile social game network called Activate, aimed at providing online features and services in its mobile games, such as cloud storage for Skylanders toys and save games.