Transformers Devastation part of brand’s new cross-media narrative

Activision’s Transformers Devastation is actually part of a far wider plan for the brand, it has emerged.

The Hollywood Reporter says that the game, which entered the UK Top 40 in 21st this week, boasts a narrative that exists within a number of other branching Transformers lines.

Both Platinum’s game and an upcoming Machinima animated series take place within the events of the current Combiner Wars toy and IDW comic line. This arc will conclude in the middle of 2016 when it will be followed by a new series, Titans Returns, the first toys for which were revealed late last week.

A third, as-of-yet unspecified chapter, will then follow in late 2017 or early 2018.

Combiner Wars, as the name suggests, is Hasbro’s first dedicated line of combining Transformers (larger gestalt bots that comprise between five and six individual members, who themselves also swap between robot and vehicle mode) since the original ‘80s toy line.

Included in its ranks is the largest combiner Hasbro has ever built – the 18-inch Devastator, as well as a number of assorted other figures spanning legends, deluxe and voyager sizes.

Titans Returns, meanwhile, will focus on the resurrection of Headmasters (bots whose head is itself a small transformer), along with the return of iconic characters such as Galvatron.

"We decided to initiate the creation of a bigger deeper worlds," Hasbro’s Transformers story team boss David Erwin said. "The fan reaction was really good. And that’s when we decided we wanted to make this a trilogy and really make this immersive. And when we say immersive, that means to create that experience across all different platforms, to take it across everything that we do."

Also promised is an increased focus on female bots. Until now Arcee has been the only established female bot in the mainstream continuum, but she has recently been joined by the likes of Windblade and Chromia in the Combiner Wars line. The first ever female combiner, Victorion (a fan chosen name) is due for release next year.