 | |
 Headquarters in Glendale, California | |
| Disney Interactive | |
| Formerly | Disney Interactive Media Group (2008–2012) |
| Company type | Subsidiary |
| Industry | Video games,Internet |
| Predecessors | |
| Founded | 1995; 30 years ago (1995) |
| Successor | Disney Consumer Products (as a segment) |
| Headquarters | Grand Central Creative Campus,, U.S. |
Number of locations | 12 |
| Revenue | US$982 million |
| US$−308 million (2011) | |
Number of employees | 2,000 (March 2014) |
| Parent | Disney Consumer Products |
| Divisions |
|
| Footnotes / references [1][2][3][4] | |
Disney Interactive is an American video game and internet company that oversees various websites and interactive media owned byThe Walt Disney Company.[1]
In December 1994,Disney announced that it was establishing a new division dedicated to publishing computer andvideo game console software, called Disney Interactive.[5] The initial staff consisted of 200 newly hired employees.[5] The company was formally established in mid-1995.[6] On August 23, 1995, Disney Interactive formed Disney Online.[7]
Disney purchased a one-third share ofStarwave on April 3, 1997, for $100 million.[8] In January 1998, Disney registeredgo.com.[9] Exercising its options, Disney purchased the outstanding shares of Starwave fromPaul Allen in April 1998.[10] In June 1998, Disney purchased 43% ownership ofInfoseek in exchange for Starwave and $70 million.[11][12] Infoseek and Disney Online joint ventured in developing theGo Network, an internet portal.[13] With Disney's purchase of the remainder of Infoseek in July 1999, the Go Network, Infoseek, the Disney Catalog, Disney Online (Disney.com and DisneyStore.com), ABC News Internet Ventures and ESPN Internet Ventures and Buena Vista Internet Group are merged into the Go.com company.[14]
In August 1996, BVIG took a controlling in interest in toysmart.com with three directors on the board. Toysmart would be granted marketing support including free advertising on BVIG websites like family.com.[15] After an attempted round of financing, Toysmart.com shut down in May 2000.[16]
In June 1999, the Disney Internet Guide was abandoned.[17] TheGo.com portal was shut down in 2001 at a cost of $878 million in charges.[18]
In 2004, Disney re-activated the Starwave identity as Starwave Mobile, which publishes casual games for mobile phones for non-Disney brands with in Disney conglomerate or from third party.[19]
It acquired Living Mobile, a German mobile game developer and publisher in November 2005.[20][21][22]
It acquired Enorbus Technologies in 2007 for around $20 million.[23]
On June 5, 2008,Disney Interactive Studios and the Walt Disney Internet Group merged into a single business unit, now known as the Disney Interactive Media Group (DIMG).[24] In 2009, DIMG's Disney Online unit purchased multiple websites from Kaboose.[25]
In July 2010, Disney Interactive purchasedPlaydom for $563.2 million[26] andTapulous for itsmobile division.[3][27] In October 2010, two co-presidents were named for DIMG, John Pleasants and James Pitaro, with orders to make the company profitable.[28]
In January 2011, DIMG closedPropaganda Games and laid off 200 employees later in the month.[28] The dual presidents placed the game studios of Blackrock, Junction Point, Avalanche, Wideload and Gamestar under game development chief Alex Seropian whileClub Penguin co-creatorLane Merrifield was assigned to games for kids and families within a new publishing unit to handle marketing and production.[28] On February 18, DIMG purchasedTogetherville, a pre-teen social network.[29] Also in February, DIMG purchasedFinland-based Rocket Pack, a game development company with a plugin free game development system.[30] In November, DIMG purchased Babble Media Inc.[31]
In October 2011, it acquiredIndiagames for between $80 million and $100 million.[32]
In April 2012, DIMG announced three web series targeted towards mothers: "Moms of", "That's Fresh", and "Thinking Up."[33] By October, DIMG had 15 consecutive quarters of losses totaling some $977 million.[18] Following conflicts with Pleasants, Merrifield resigned from the company. DIMG also in October 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.[18]
In 2012, Disney Interactive Media Group shortened its name to Disney Interactive (DI).[34]
In January 2013, Disney Interactive'sAvalanche Software unveiled the Toy Box cross platform game asDisney Infinity, based onToy Story 3: The Video Game's "Toy Box" mode crossed with a toy line.[35] Also in January, Disney Interactive announced the closure ofJunction Point Studios.[36]
In October 2013, Disney announced that its Interactive division had a profit of $16 million for its fourth quarter, based partly on sales of Disney Infinity and uniting both halves of the division under one president.[37]
In March 2014, Disney Interactive announced it was laying off 700 people in order to combine its two-game units, mobile and social, due to sagging popularity ofFacebook games, and closing some Disney Online sites. The company stated that it would place less emphasis on advertising and instead focus on sponsorships for Disney Online and licensed game development. Certain segments of the business, such as a mobile application in Japan and theDisney Infinity franchise, remained profitable.[4]
Disney Interactive was merged withDisney Consumer Products on June 29, 2015, forming a new segment and division known as "Disney Consumer Products and Interactive Media", with Disney Interactive as a direct unit.[38] In December 2015,Maker Studios was placed under the control of Disney Interactive with the appointment of Maker's executive vice president Courtney Holt, reporting to Jimmy Pitaro, president of Disney Interactive.[39]
With a lack of growth in toy-to-game market and increasing developmental costs, in May 2016, Disney Interactive discontinuedDisney Infinity and closed downAvalanche Software. The company additionally ceased all self-publishing efforts. The company reported a $147 million earnings impact for ending its console gaming business.[40]
In September 2018, Disney confirmed the imminent discontinuation ofClub Penguin Island in a letter sent to its Disney Online Studios team in Kelowna, as well as the layoffs of most employees in said studio.[41]
In November 2018, Disney reached an agreement withJam City to assume operation of its Glendale-basedDisney Interactive Studios. As part of the deal, Jam City acquiredEmoji Blitz and development rights for future games based on Pixar and Walt Disney Animation Studios franchises. Employees at the studio were offered positions with Jam City to continue working on the Disney titles.[42]
Disney Electronic Content would take over publishing duties of various Disney-branded video games not licensed to other companies. Their first release wasDisney Classic Games: Aladdin and The Lion King on October 29, 2019 forMicrosoft Windows,Nintendo Switch,PlayStation 4 andXbox One, a collection of tie-in video games based on both films developed by Digital Eclipse. A re-release featuringThe Jungle Book andDisney's Aladdin games, titledDisney Classic Games Collection was released on November 23, 2021.[43]
Disney Electronic Content releasedZombies Ate My Neighbors andGhoul Patrol on June 29, 2021.[44]Disney Illusion Island, a platform game developed byDlala Studios, was released exclusively forNintendo Switch on July 28, 2023.[45]
| Company type | Division |
|---|---|
| Industry | Internet |
| Founded | August 23, 1995; 29 years ago (1995-08-23) |
| Headquarters | |
| Products | Websites |
| Parent | Disney Interactive |
| Divisions |
|
Disney Online is a division of Disney Interactive that operates most of Disney's online portfolio.
On August 23, 1995, Disney Interactive formed Disney Online unit with the naming ofJake Winebaum as president of Disney Online.[7] On November 19, 1996, the opening of DisneyStore.com was open under Disney Online business unit. The family.com website is launched on December 9, 1996.[48]
Disney announced on April 18, 1997 that it will purchaseStarwave's Family Planet Web site and merge it with Family.com.[49] The Disney Daily Blast (dailyblast.com) web site officially launched on April 23 under a subscription plan and daily content targeted to younger viewers with Microsoft Network marketing and distributing for an exclusive 10-month period.[49][50]
In July 1998, Disney Online announced dig.com, Disney Internet Guide, a child friendly web directory[51] which launched in June 1998[9] and closed one year later in June to focus onInfoseek/Go Network.[52]
In late 2007, DIMG purchased IParenting Media's websites.[31] Disney sold movies.com toFandango in June 2008.[53] Disney Online purchased in 2008 Take 180 from Chris Williams, who stays on until April 2012 as vice president and general manager of Disney Online Originals, which has Take 180 as creative hub.[54] In 2009, DIMG's Disney Online unit purchased from Kaboose multiple websites including: Kaboose.com, Babyzone.com, AmazingMoms.com, Funschool.com and Zeeks.com, and place them into its Disney Family Network.[2][25] Disney.com purchasedKerpoof in February 2009.[55]
In November 2011, DIMG purchased Babble Media Inc. to add it to the Mom and Family Portfolio.[31] In March 2014, Disney Interactive announced it was laying off 700 people, or one-fourth of its staff as DI closed smaller Disney Online sites including BabyZone.com and Spoonful.com. They said will focus less on advertising and more on sponsorships for Disney Online to fit the experience Disney wishes to offer.[4]
This means that we will be shutting down Avalanche, our internal studio that developed the game.
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