Just bought Disney Infinity 2.0 for $8 off the Microsoft store. I guess they're clearing stock of these. I liked the concept, but Disney Infinity was always more expensive than Skylanders and the compatibility isn't easy to deal with like Skylanders.
I like the concept of these toys to videogame things. I think Nintendo was grasping when it came to the Amiibos, but Skylanders is alright. Most of the people bashing the franchise in this thread have likely never played the games anyway.
I hope we get to keep Skylanders at least. My niece loves Skylanders and loves all of the characters. She saved up money to buy the Kaos Trap. The games aren't that bad. My niece struggles with solving the puzzles on her own but recently has gotten better. I wish they would fix the camera in future games, it's been shitty since Skylanders Giants. Also hoping they add four player someday.
I heard that Skylanders is getting a TV show on the disney channel, I think. If Activision is partnering with Disney, that would probably explain why they stopped the Disney Infinity series. Not sure about the publishing thing.
Except Disney Infinity is exactly as you are describing.
Disney Infinity was always free-to-play on PC, iOS, and Android. They have it on Steam. You didn't even need the actual figures, you just buy them like DLC. You only had to pay for the game and figures on consoles.
Just goes to show that the real problem with Disney Infinity is advertising.