Along with these announcements, they also revealed that the studio behind the games, Avalanche Software (not to be confused with Just Cause developer Avalanche Games), will also close down meaning around 300 staff are now looking for work.
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Yesterday, Disney announced that it’s canceling its “toys-to-life” franchise (physical toys that interact with video games) Disney Infinity.
The cancellation will cost Disney $147 million, including inventory write-down and employee severance.
Back in March, Disney Interactive Studios reaffirmed its commitment to the Disney Infinity franchise despite announcing that it would slow down from an annual release schedule of the games.
Games analyst Steve Bailey, from IHS technology, said toy-to-life games like Disney Infinity or competitor Skylanders tended to begin well, but faced challenges in generating repeated sales.
Blackburn also promised two final retail releases of Infinity toy playsets before the line is shut down entirely.
“We have made the hard decision to discontinue production”, said Disney Infinity Senior VP and General Manager John Blackburn. That means that other companies will make the games starring Disney’s myriad characters, much like what happens now with other Star Wars games after the Disney-owned LucasArts charted the same path.
While Disney will no longer be creating console games in-house, it will continue to license its properties and characters to third-parties like EA.
Analysts were expecting better performance at the parks and in the consumer products division that houses the Infinity line.
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Speaking to VentureBeat, Disney said, “After a thorough evaluation, we have modified our approach to console gaming and will transition exclusively to a licensing model”. By tying the in-game content to real-world objects, companies including Disney found that gamers and parents of gamers were happier about splashing their cash to expand the game – but that success is apparently not enough for Disney.
