Activision to reveal 'innovative new universe' integrating games and toys at NYC Toy Fair

Hidden within the "company outlook" section of Activision's latest earnings report is a tease for a new game, or series, or something. Activision calls this new project "an innovative new universe with broad appeal that will be revealed at Toy Fair later this week and will bring the world of toys, video games and the Internet together in an unprecedented way." In an investor call, Activision's Eric Hirshberg said the game would be out in "the back half" of this year.

If it's being revealed at Toy Fair (February 13–16 in NYC) and it has "broad appeal," expect it to be some kind of children's game. Activision recently unveiled Squinkies for DS (pictured), which fits the "toys" (it's based on a popular toy franchise) and "broad appeal" classifiers, but not the "unprecedented" online integration, making it unlikely that the DS game alone is what the report is talking about. it's possible that this new game will use the Squinkies license, though, since Activision has those rights. Rest assured, Joystiq will be at Toy Fair to find out more about this mystery project.

Update: And the answer is ... a new Spyro game, with interactive toys!