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Disney is reporting that due to losses in their gaming division ($147 million, in all), they are moving towards eliminating their presence as a console game publisher, and effectively shuttering Disney Infinity in the process.
For those of you who have been following the industry this year (parents, in particular), this isn’t shocking news. Disney noted sinking sales as recently as this past March, and the fact that there would be no new Disney Infinity game that year was already known. Relatedly, Skylanders took a massive hit over at Activision, and partially caused some restructuring.
Beyond those two franchises, the world still has LEGO Dimensions from Warner Bros, and the all-powerful amiibo line from Nintendo that’s still selling. No doubt all of this fierce competition has left a smaller overall piece of the pie for everyone to take, and with Disney’s struggle in the gaming space, it all adds up to trouble. It makes sense then, why they’re licensing out properties like Star Wars to other publishers like EA rather than doing it in-house.
After an inquiry, Disney provided this statement for Destructoid:
“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.”
Walt Disney Company Reports [Disney]
Published: May 10, 2016 03:45 pm