Axe swings at Disney Interactive

Disney Interactive has confirmed that it has axed a number of positions at its Disney Interactive Studios division.

Though the numbers remain unclassified, it is rumoured that as many as half of the 700 employees have been made redundant.

"As part of setting a strategic direction for future success in the digital media space, the Disney Interactive Media Group today began a restructuring process," Disney told Variety.

It is also being claimed that the losses have hit Warren Spector’s studio Junction Point, whose recent release Epic Mickey was one of Disney Interactive’s few hits.

The move comes after a prolonged period of disruption at the company. In late 2010 long-term head of games Graham Hopper announced his departure, with former Playdom chief exec John Pleasants taking his place.

We’ve seen a pretty big shift in games from console to what I’ll call multiplatform – everything from mobile apps to social networking games,” CEO Bob Iger said at the time.

It’s our goal not only to be profitable, but obviously to get there by shifting our investment and reducing our investment too. We probably will end up investing less on the console side than we have because of the shift we’re seeing in consumption and have a presence, albeit with probably less investment, in terms of game manufacturing on some of the newer platforms."

Last week Disney closed the doors on Tron developer Propaganda Games.