Activision is quite proud of Spyro and his pals, as the Skylanders series has been raking in barrels of cash ever since the debut of Skylanders: Spyro’s Adventure last October. In fact, the developer/publisher is now stating that the video game and action figure franchise is the best-selling IP of 2012, which spells out good fortune for the console sequel, Skylanders Giants.

But has the Skylanders franchise really outsold everything else in 2012 so far?

A quick look at VGChartz pulls up the amount of units sold for the main video games from January to May 19th:

• Skylanders: Spryo’s Adventure (Wii) — 570,950
• Skylanders: Spryo’s Adventure (X360) — 176,524
• Skylanders: Spryo’s Adventure (PS3) — 135,000
• Skylanders: Spryo’s Adventure (3DS) — 125,304
• Skylanders: Spryo’s Adventure (PC) — 12,524
• Total Skylanders units sold worldwide in 2012 = 1,020,302

As with most press releases, the facts are a little bit misleading. If we’re talking about unit-by-unit sales alone in 2012, Skylanders‘ 1,020,302 tally mark actually falls well behind other games like Diablo III (1,778,762 units sold), Mass Effect 3 (2,243,086 units sold on Xbox 360 alone), and even Mario Party 9 (1,152,092 units sold).

It’s more likely that Activision is calling Skylanders the best-selling 2012 franchise based on raw revenue, since the “starter pack” version of the game costs $70, in addition to the countless number of $10-to-$20 “character packs” and accessories that can be used to add collectible characters and content into the main game. Seriously, the kids go nuts for that stuff.

While sales for the PS3, Xbox 360 and Wii versions have had a steep dropoff since the 2011 holiday rush, Skylanders‘ has actually been keeping a consistent pace on the Nintendo 3DS and PC. And don’t forget, there’s also that recently released mobile spin-off of the series on iPhone and iPad, too.

Source: Activision