 | This article'slead sectionmay be too short to adequatelysummarize the key points. Please consider expanding the lead toprovide an accessible overview of all important aspects of the article. The reason given is:Does not mention any of the company's history other than its closure.(May 2024) |
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| Formerly |
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|---|---|
| Company type | Subsidiary |
| Industry | Video games |
| Founded | September 15, 1988; 37 years ago (1988-09-15) |
| Defunct | May 10, 2016; 9 years ago (2016-05-10) |
| Fate | Closed |
| Successor | Disney Interactive |
| Headquarters | 500 Paula Ave,Glendale, California ,US |
| Brands | Touchstone Interactive |
| Parent | Walt Disney Television (1988–1995) Disney Interactive (1995–2016) |
| Subsidiaries | See§ Studios |
| Website | disneyinteractive |
Disney Interactive Studios, Inc. was an Americanvideo game developer andpublisher owned byThe Walt Disney Company throughDisney Interactive. Prior to its closure in 2016, it developed anddistributedmulti-platformvideo games andinteractive entertainment worldwide.
Most of the games released by Disney Interactive Studios were typically tie-in products to existing character franchises.[1] On May 10, 2016, as a result of the discontinuation of itsDisney Infinity series, Disney shut down Disney Interactive Studios, and exited the first-party home console game development business in order to focus on third-party development of home console video games through other developers. However, it continues to release games foriOS andAndroid mobile devices under its own label,Disney Mobile, and later revived theMarvel Games andLucasfilm Games labels for licensing of third-party developed games based on Marvel and Lucasfilm properties respectively.[citation needed]Disney Electronic Content is a spiritual successor to the company.
Disney established its own in house gaming unit,[1]Walt Disney Computer Software, Inc. (WDCS), and it was incorporated on September 15, 1988.[2] WDCS generally used third-party development studios to design spin-off games using its existing portfolio of characters. WDCS failed to meet the high expectations that came with the Disney name, although three of its self-published computer titles –Mickey's Runaway Zoo,Donald's Alphabet Chase andWho Framed Roger Rabbit – sold more than 100,000 copies, the industry equivalent of earning a Gold Record.[3] The underlying issues were later attributed by senior Disney executives as being due to low product quality and lack of understanding of the differences between film and games.[4]
WDCS also published a series of Nintendo (NES) and Gameboy platform game titles with Japanese video game companyCapcom. Of these titles, 1989'sDuckTales received the most commercial and critical success, selling approximately 1.67 million and 1.43 million copies worldwide respectively, each becoming Capcom's highest-selling titles for their respective platforms.[5] Produced by founding WDCS producer Darlene Waddington,DuckTales' Gameboy version was named "Gameboy Game of the Year" byPC Player Magazine.[6]DuckTales continues to be considered a game with high nostalgic interest[7] and was remade in 2013 asDuckTales: Remastered.[8]
FollowingDuckTales, WDCS developed and published another NES platform game with Capcom,Chip 'n Dale Rescue Rangers.Rescue Rangers proved to be a commercial success, selling approximately 1.2 million copies worldwide, becoming Capcom's fourth highest-selling game for the Nintendo Entertainment System.[9] Continuing with the success of these titles, Disney continued to find success with another Capcom developed title,Aladdin andThe Lion King (developed by Westwood Studios) in 1993 and 1994 respectively. This led to a move from self-developed and self-published to funding and development management of games with third parties published the game.[4]
Using the film studio style formula, WDCS was reorganized intoDisney Interactive, Inc. (DI)[4] on December 5, 1994 with the merging of WDCS andWalt Disney Television and Telecommunications.[10][11][12][13][14]
On April 15, 1997, Disney Interactive announced it would exit the in-house video game market and reduce its staff by 20%.[15] The company would instead license out Disney properties to third-party developers and publishers, of which the development and production cost risks were transferred to the game companies but reduced the per-unit revenue generated to Disney and effectively yielded a near 100% margin of licensed game sales.[4]
On February 27, 1999, Disney Interactive signed a six-game publishing contract withActivision to release titles for the Nintendo 64, starting withA Bug's Life.[16] In May, Disney signed a worldwide publishing agreement withNintendo which would mainly focus on video games featuringMickey Mouse on the Nintendo 64 and Game Boy Color, which would be developed by then-Nintendo partnerRare. The Game Boy Color would also see titles based onAlice in Wonderland andBeauty and the Beast.[17] Another worldwide publishing deal was made withUbi Soft in the same month for games based onDonald Duck and other Disney animated films[18] which later includedDinosaur.[19] In November, the company published a CD-ROM title based on the game showWho Wants to Be a Millionaire which went on to sell one million copies in four weeks.[20]
In 2000, Disney Interactive reestablished Buena Vista Interactive as a secondary publishing label, initially being used to publish CD-ROM titles based onWho Wants to Be a Millionaire.
In May 2001, the company signed a deal withSony Computer Entertainment to allow the latter to publish titles based onAtlantis: The Lost Empire,Monsters, Inc.,Treasure Planet,Lilo & Stitch, andPeter Pan: Return to Never Land on thePlayStation andPlayStation 2.[21] In European territories,Infogrames formerly distributed several of Disney Interactive's PC titles; however, this agreement was later replaced with several separate distribution deals, includingJoWooD Productions in Germany.[22]
In February 2002, Disney Interactive announced that they would return to the self-publishing console/handheld market by releasing titles for theGame Boy Advance, beginning withReturn to Never Land,Lilo & Stitch, andTreasure Planet.[23] They later signed a deal withUbi Soft to publish and distribute the titles in Europe.[24] In May 2002, the company formed a third publishing label named Plaid Banana Entertainment which would publish games developed by Hulabee Entertainment, a studio formed byHumongous Entertainment founders Shelley Day and Ron Gilbert.[25]
In 2003, The Walt Disney Company announced that it would fully re-enter the self-publishing and core gaming markets, rebrandingDisney Interactive, Inc. asBuena Vista Games, Inc. (BVG) The Disney Interactive and Buena Vista Interactive brands were retained as publishing labels for children's and core titles, respectively.[4]
On April 19, 2005, Buena Vista Games announced that they had entered the game development market. The company formedPropaganda Games, based inVancouver, British Columbia; which was made up of former employees atEA Canada, and purchasedAvalanche Software inSalt Lake City,Utah for an undisclosed amount.[26] On May 13, 2005, the company announced they had acquired the video game rights to theTurok franchise from ownersClassic Media; which had been previously held byAcclaim Entertainment.[27]
On April 27, 2006, Buena Vista Games entered into a publishing agreement with Japanese developerQ Entertainment where the company would publish four of the developer's titles globally except in Asia; including a Disney-themed version ofMeteos.[28] In September, Buena Vista expanded their developer cycle by purchasingClimax Racing from theClimax Group[29] and formedFall Line Studios in November to create casual titles for theNintendo DS and theWii consoles.[30]
On February 8, 2007, The Walt Disney Company renamed Buena Vista Games toDisney Interactive Studios as part of a larger company initiative to phase out the Buena Vista brand that year.[31][32] The studio publishes both Disney and non-Disney branded video games for all platforms worldwide, with titles that feature its consumer brands including Disney,ABC,ESPN, andTouchstone (which is used as a label for Disney). In July 2007, the studio acquiredJunction Point Studios.[33]
On June 5, 2008, Disney Interactive Studios and the Walt Disney Internet Group, merged into a single business unit now known as theDisney Interactive Media Group,[34] and it merged its subsidiaryFall Line Studios with its sister studio, Avalanche Software, in January 2009.[35] In February 2009, Disney Interactive acquired Gamestar, a Chinese game development company.[36] On September 8, 2009, Disney Interactive announced that it had acquiredWideload Games.[37]
In November 2010, the executive Graham Hopper left the company.[38] He announced his departure via an internal e-mail saying "the time has come for me to move on from the company and set my sights on new horizons."[39]
DIS in October 2012 announced "Toy Box", a cross platform gaming initiative where Pixar and Disney characters will interact from a console game to multiple mobile and online applications.[40] The first Toy Box cross platform game isDisney Infinity based on theToy Story 3 game's Toy Box mode crossed with a toy line.[41]
After the purchase ofLucasfilm by The Walt Disney Company in 2012, Disney Interactive assumed the role of developingStar Wars games for thecasual gaming market, whileElectronic Arts would developStar Wars games for the core gaming market through an exclusive license (althoughLucasArts did retain the ability to licenseStar Wars games to other developers for the casual gaming market).[42][43]
AtE3 2013, Disney and Square Enix released a teaser trailer forKingdom Hearts III, after going seven years of not declaring any consoleKingdom Hearts game sinceKingdom Hearts II. The game would release nearly six years later in January 2019.
Disney Interactive Studios has lost more than $200 million per year from 2008 to 2012[44] during a period in which it shut down Canadian game development studioPropaganda Games,[45] British developerBlack Rock Studio[46] and Austin-based game developing unitJunction Point Studios[47] and its co-president John Pleasants stepped down in November 2013 after the launch ofDisney Infinity.[44]
On March 6, 2014, 700 employees were laid off.[48] After the cancellation ofDisney Infinity, Disney Interactive Studios closed in 2016.[49]
The company also publishes games fromQ Entertainment worldwide except Asia:Lumines II, the sequel to the puzzle game for the PSP system;Lumines Plus, a new version ofLumines for the PlayStation 2;[50]Every Extend Extra, a puzzle shooter;[51] and a Disney Interactive Studios'sMeteos: Disney Edition, the popularMeteos game for theNintendo DS with Disney characters.[52][53]
The company revealed a lineup of games atE3 2006, which include DIE'sTurok, a re-imagining of thevideo game series of the same name andDesperate Housewives: The Game, based on the hittelevision show.
Disney Interactive Studios is credited in all entries to theKingdom Hearts franchise, with the original release box art of each entry to the series having different logos and name of the company seeing as coincidentally, the company is re-branded in between the releases. Notably however, the company is not credited to actually developing the game.[54]
While EA studios will develop for the core Star Wars gaming audience, Disney Interactive will focus on delivering new Star Wars games for casual audiences on mobile, social, tablet, and online gaming platforms.
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