14 DAY TRIAL // Video game developer and publisher Disney Interactive announces that it is letting 700 of its own staff go in order to restructure the core divisions of the company and help it focus on its priorities in the near future.
The fired people come mostly from the social, mobile, and casual game teams, which seem to be no longer interesting to the media conglomerate, which wants to continue a shift towards high-value AAA experiences.
Neither Disney Infinity nor the Harmonix-created Fantasia: Music Evolved is affected by the loss of the 700 people and development will proceed as initially planned.
A representative is quoted by Eurogamer as saying that “Disney Interactive has consolidated several lines of business as part of an effort to focus the division on a streamlined suite of high quality digital products. As a result of this restructuring, we have undergone a reduction in workforce. These actions were difficult but necessary given our long-term strategy focused on sustainable profitability and innovation.”
Disney has also recently announced that it plans to no longer fund any in-house console titles in the future and will work with third-party studios to license intellectual properties.
James Pitaro, the president of Disney Interactive, adds, “We're not exiting any businesses, and we will pursue licensing partnerships in which we retain a lot of creative input. But this is a doubling down on mobile and an effort to focus much more intently on a core set of priorities.”
Chicago-based Wideload Games, which Disney bought in 2009, has been shut down but it is not the only section of the company that’s affected.
Disney Infinity is expected to get a new set of toys this year, each of them linked to a virtual experience.
Speculation from the fan community also says that sets based on both Star Wars and the Marvel comic book universe will be announced in 2014 and will be delivered throughout next year.
The title is one of the most successful on the market and is in direct competition with the Slylanders line from Activision.
Disney has a long-term partnership that involves video game development with publisher Electronic Arts, linked to the Star Wars universe.
Teams at BioWare, Visceral, and DICE are working on new games that will be connected to the coming new movie trilogy, although no details have been offered on them apart from the reveal of Battlefront III.