Credit to PeterMagnus who pointed this out in another thread.

Many rumors have been floating around due to statements from cast and crew members along with recording sessions of a Robots in Disguise Season 4.

On the packaging of Combiner Force toys, info about scanning figures, mentions the last day for downloading the Robots in Disguise Mobile Games as December 31st 2018. Previous figures like Warrior Ratchet had December 31st 2017 printed as the last day for download.

If the game has had it's run extended for a whole entire year, it is save to assume new figures will be available in that year. It is also save to assume that these toys will be based on some kind of content.

Could this mean the Bee Team's adventures aren't over yet? Could Robots in Disguise have two years ahead of it? What plotlines could they do after the corrupt council and Cyclonus are dealt wwit? What kind of gimmick and new form of Mini-Cons might this season try to push on the towline? All of this is up to speculation however, our first form of evidence may have just appeared.

 

Question: How can Prime get only 3 seasons but RiD (Which fans took more negatively) get 4?

 

Prime was supposed to have four seasons but internal conflict stopped it. RID (which despite negative reception is still doing pretty well) must not be dealing with such troubles. Probably the writers are actually agreeing on plotlines and team members aren't getting replaced in the middle of a Season's production.

 

I wish they had just rebooted RID and made a TF Prime Season 4 ....

 

This was my thought exactly.

 

I think this would technically be season three, since the latest episodes are considered part of season two.

 

Don't forget that toy sales play a key. People online might like Prime more but RID is more exposed being on a channel like CN as opposed to The Hub. Hence, a steady income from a merchandise standpoint. Of course, I'm just guessing.

 

Well, it did take a long time for prime toys to hit shelves

 

Combiner Force (Season 3) is this year (2017. I'm talking about 2018.

I know. Thanks for pointing it out because I don't pay attention tovtoy boxes unless it's Masterpiece

 

Just a FYI that Starscream act was also called Season 3 at SDCC iirc, and the youtube trailers also use "Season 3" to describe it. In this case, Season 4 would be Combiner Force, though it's actually Season 3.

If they have a new series on 2018 they might push the app to 2019, to have a whole year to keep selling toys, so I wouldn't get my hopes up. A new season would depend on how well Combiner Force does

 

Kids and parents are more important than angry internet nerds.

 

I think these are all basically your answers.

 

I haven't been following toy sales but I remember Transformers Prime struggled in selling toy's because of its dark tone for a kids show. I think Beast Hunters was a response to that and it didn't have the impact they had hoped. RiD always seems to emphasis it's lightheartedness so maybe thats helped it with toy sales?

As I said I don't know how well the show's actually doing with pushing merchandise but I assume it has to be good if it's getting a third and potentially fourth season.

 

I would be really surprised if RID gets a fourth season.

 

I think it is getting a fourth season- one of the recording staff posted a photograph which they tagged as season four.

 

Repeating what I said, Combiner Force is Season 4.

Starscream's shenanigans with the Weaponizers was treated as Season 3. Whether or not we get a new season will probably depend on how well Combiner Force does with audience and toy sales, I presume. We got an entire new year to the app because they probably want the toyline to still be up on the shelves for at least another full year after the last episode of the season, so the app must be operational.

 

When Combiner Force was announced, it was said to be Season 3. The Mini-Con Weaponizers Arc may have been counted as Season 3 in some places but ultimately stuff like that occurs alk the time. The Rebirth isn't G1 Season 4 but is called such in many places. Just like Rebirth these 6 episodes don't fit into a Season. Also, extending the app for a whole year for something like keeping toys on shelves wouldn't make that much sense. Considering the fact the toys will probably always be able somewhere like Amazon (or even at retail, like how I'm able to find Ejector from Revenge of the Fallen at stores to this day), they should support the app for all time shouldn't they.

 

When Optimus went away again in SE3episode6, he said he has not been to Cybertron since or for that matter after the Primes restored him and has been working with some old friends. Could that be the 4th season or probably some other new show?

 

We'll probably see that in Season 3 Combiner Force. The Starscream stuff is Season 2.5.

 

When the Starscream arc was announced at SDCC, it was announced as Season 3. Here, another link:

If it's coming from the guys working on the show, I'd believe it, even if this has changed recently. At the time, Starscream act was Season 3, so the "working on season 4" tweet made by one of the writers would've been Combiner Force, again, at that time.

Sure, Combiner Force is now Season 3. I'm not gonna deny that, the seasons have been "re-arranged" and everyone was confused for quite a while. My point is: Combiner Force was being treated as a Season 4 by the crew, so writing, producing, voice acting, etc. would've been treated as being for Season 4, even though it's gonna be Season 3 on TV. It happens. Think of it as being waves of their work, with the first 26 episodes being the first wave, the 13 episodes another wave, the 6 episodes another wave of work and now there's a fourth wave of work. For them, it'd feel like 4 seasons, while for us it's only 3.

Technicalities aside, I still believe that a new season will depend on whether or not Combiner Force will be a hit. The original plot for RiD has ended when the Alchemor returned to Cybertron, and the only unresolved conflict was the corrupt Council that Optimus would investigate. They could've dismissed that entirely with just a line from OP during Starscream's act (which I think was already commissioned at the time), but they didn't because another season (Combiner Force) had been commissioned. With the toys we've got, we know that we'll see the Council sometime during this season, and this conflict will probably be resolved. Thus, without another plot to keep on going, a new season of RiD would depend on how well the show would do, how well the toys would sell. If Hasbro feels they can still make money with RiD, they'll do it. Otherwise they'll drop it and move on.

As for the game, think like you're the owner of the servers. With the end of the cartoon (that is promoting the toyline), there's bound to be a decrease on the toy sales. Not only that, we've got the toys from the movie which will be a hit for a while. There'll be a time when the toy sales won't be aa big as it is now, even if it continues on selling for all of eternity on the internet. Kids will move on from this repetitive game, seek other things to do. There's a time when you'll have to say "well, it's been a good run, but it's time to go". There's just too much money being put into it with little (if any) profit. Having a whole year gives people enough time to still play and complete the game if so they wish, instead of announcing it'll end out of the blue.

Everything ends one day. The servers will be shut down and used for another purpose. The toys won't be advertised by the show and new toys won't be made. The toyline will still be there, but stagnant. It's only a matter of time until the game server shuts down. Until it does, people can play and they can buy new characters if they want to (an incentive to buy the toys!). But it'll end.

Before Season 2 was announced, the date for the closure of the servers was December 31st of 2016, then it was pushed to December 31st of 2017, now it's been pushed to December 31st of 2018. It's only logical that if a new season pops up the closure date will be pushed to 2019.

((So, to make it clear, to me it seems like there's a difference to how RiD seasons are being treated by the crew and by us, the audience. To the crew, Combiner Force is Season 4. For the TV and thus ourselves, the people who watch it, it's Season 3. It's a huge misunderstanding that was made by someone at some time when they decided to call Starscream act Season 2.5 after it's been announced as Season 3. Or the contrary, when they announced Season 3 before knowing it was actually Season 2.5))