By: Max Cannon
It's a sad day for any fan of toys-to-life style games. As reported by Ben Fritz of "The Wall Street Journal", Disney has planned to cease production of Disney Infinity games and toys. Fritz also claims that this is the "end of Disney as a video game publisher." This move was telegraphed months ago as Disney claimed they wouldn't be attending E3 - the world's biggest video game showcasing event.
Disney Infinity crams a ton of classic characters into one game.Courtesy of Disney
A video game publisher isn't the company that creates the game but the one who puts it on a disc, runs the marketing team, and ships it out the various stores. So while this may mark the end of the Disney Infinity games and the end of a gaming era, this isn't necessarily a bad thing for players who don't take part in Infinity. Disney has famously been very selective with what kind of games are published through their company and while they've made some fantastic games they've often felt a bit restricted. And while Disney still owns the characters, and potential development teams, one less form of censorship would certainly be welcome.
Disney Infinity Is Done
We can definitely expect many more Disney owned games by different publishers. For example, EA has had an exclusive deal to publish any Star Wars games to be released in the foreseeable future. And Telltale games, known for making The Walking Dead and Tales From The Borderlands, will be developing a Marvel game and potentially publishing it as well. It's great to hear stories like this but properties have been known to be canceled when switching hands with Disney. A first person Avengers game was to be released alongside the movie but was canceled around the time of their purchase and the same thing happened with Star Wars 1313 developed by LucasArts.
For those still playing Disney Infinity and purchasing all of the latest characters there will be 2 more releases. You can look forward to picking up a pack based on Finding Dory and Alice Through The Looking Glass in June.
Star Wars is just one of Disney Infinity's beloved properties.Courtesy of Disney
Sadly, Disney's partnership with Avalanche, a Utah based development studio, has ended. This resulted in the loss of an estimated 300 jobs and our best goes out to those game developers.
Have Your Say
Have you been playing Disney Infinity? Will you miss the game? Do you have a favorite toy from the game? Comment below!
