Looks like there will be no more games to be played in the magic kingdom, Disney is officially pulling out of the video game industry. In a statement made by Jimmy Pitaro, chairman of Disney Consumer Products and Interactive Media, the company announced that they will officially cease production of video games, and instead move to a licensing model exclusively on consoles.
Pitaro is quoted as saying “After a thorough evaluation, we have modified our approach to console gaming and will transition exclusively to a licensing model. This shift in strategy means we will cease production of Disney Infinity, where the lack of growth in the toys-to-life market, coupled with high development costs, has created a challenging business model. This means that we will be shutting down Avalanche, our internal studio that developed the game. This was a difficult decision that we did not take lightly given the quality of Disney Infinity and its many passionate fans.”
Our condolences go to any Avalanche employees affected by the closure. Disney Infinity was a fan favourite despite being in the difficult toys-to-life market, which tends to struggle due to high costs on consumers and developers alike. Infinity’s final releases will be three characters for Alice Through the Looking Glass in May and the Finding Dory play set in June.
Interestingly the announcement that they’ll be withdrawing from video game production somewhat mirrors that of LucasArts in 2013, when the company now owned by Disney decided to stop development of their titles. As of now, the rights to produce any Star Wars related games belong solely to EA and their studios including DICE and Bioware. The rights for other properties such as Pixar and Marvel have yet to be licensed, but it is confirmed that they will be handled outside of Disney Interactive.
