Disney Interactive Studios

Walt Disney Computer Software

In 1988, Disney started its own in house gaming unit, Walt Disney Computer Software (WDCS). WDCS generally used third-party development studios to design spin-off games using its existing portfolio of characters. WDCS had little success attributed by senior Disney executives due to low product quality and lack of understanding the differences between film and games.

The few market successes were third-party-published games based on major Disney animated features like Aladdin and The Lion King in 1993 and 1994 respectfully. This led to a move from self-developed and self-published to funding and development management of games with third parties published the game.

Disney Interactive

Using the film studio style formula, WDCS was reorganized into Disney Interactive (DI) on December 5, 1994 with the merging of WDCS and Walt Disney Television and Telecommunications division. On April 15, 1997, DI reduced its staff by 20% ending in-house video game production. This increased the requests for licensing from third-party games companies. Under this plan, 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 percent margin of licensed game sales. A thirteen-game agreement was made between Nintendo of America and Disney Interactive in 1999 for both the Nintendo 64 and Game Boy Color.

Buena Vista Games (2003–2007)

Buena Vista Games (BVG) was spun out of Disney Interactive in 2003 after a 2002 strategic review that chose to return to being a dedicated games publisher. With DI focused on children's games, BVG took on all other content game including mobile and online mediums. Buena Vista Games is probably best known for the Kingdom Hearts series along with Japanese developer Square Enix.

In April 2005, BVG purchased Avalanche Software in Salt Lake City, Utah and started a Vancouver, British Columbia based game development studio, Propaganda Games.

In September 2006, Buena Vista acquired Climax Racing. BVG formed a new game studio, Fall Line Studio, in November 2006 to create Disney and new game titles for Nintendo DS and the Wii console.

Disney Interactive Studios

In 2007, The Walt Disney Company renamed Buena Vista Games to Disney Interactive Studios. 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, and Touchstone (which is used as a label for Disney). In July 2007, the studio acquired Junction Point Studios.

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, and it merged its subsidiary Fall Line Studios with its sister studio, Avalanche Software, in January 2009. In February 2009, Disney Interactive acquired GameStar, a Chinese game development company. On September 8, 2009, Disney Interactive announced that it had acquired Wideload Games.

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. The first Toy Box cross platform game is Disney Infinity based on the Toy Story 3 game's Toy Box mode crossed with a toy line.

After the purchase of Lucasfilm by The Walt Disney Company in 2012, Disney Interactive assumed the role of developing Star Wars games for the casual gaming market, while Electronic Arts would develop Star Wars games for the core gaming market through an exclusive license (although LucasArts did retain the ability to license Star Wars games to other developers for the casual gaming market).

At E3 2013, Disney and Square Enix released a teaser trailer for Kingdom Hearts III, after going seven years of not declaring any console Kingdom Hearts game since Kingdom Hearts II.

Disney Interactive Studios has lost more than $200 million per year from 2008–2012 during a period in which it shut down Propaganda Games, Black Rock Studio and Junction Point Studios and its co-president John Pleasants stepped down in November 2013 after the launch of Disney Infinity.

On March 6, 2014, 700 employees were laid off.

Closure

With a lack of growth in toy-to-game market and increasing developmental costs, in May 2016, Disney Interactive discontinued Disney Infinity and closed down the unit that developed Infinity, Avalanche Software. Also, the company ended all self-publishing efforts, bringing Disney Interactive Studios to an end. A discontinuation charge of $147 million for ending its console gaming business affected earning. however was re-opened on January 24, 2017 when Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment bought the assets of Avalanche from Disney, which led into a partnership between rivals WB Games and Disney.

List of games

The company also publishes games from Q Entertainment worldwide except Asia: Lumines II, the sequel to the puzzle game for the PSP system; Lumines Plus, a new version of Lumines for the PlayStation 2; Every Extend Extra, a puzzle shooter; and a Disney Interactive Studios's Meteos: Disney Edition, the popular Meteos game for the Nintendo DS with Disney characters.

The company revealed a lineup of games at E3 2006 , which include DIE's Turok, a re-imagining of the video game series of the same name and Desperate Housewives: The Game, based on the hit television show.

Disney Interactive Studios is credited in all entries to the Kingdom 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.

Moved to Disney Interactive

Former/defunct