Disney kills off licensed games with Infinity

Entertainment behemoth Disney has taken yet another step away from the licensed video games market.

The firm will instead promote upcoming films with content for toy/game hybrid Disney Infinity, which is due on August 23rd.

Disney has not released games based on its major blockbusters Monsters University or The Lone Ranger. Instead, tie-in toys and worlds have been added to Infinity. And this will be the norm going forward, says producer John Day.

They serve as a perfectly adequate replacement for a standalone licensed product,” he told MCV. We already use Infinity to support films and even events at the theme parks. That is part of Infinity’s purpose.”

Each add-on pack comes with multiple characters and a six-to-eight hour adventure.

The value there is really high and I’m prepared to stand behind any of those as excellent games by themselves,” said Day.

Disney Interactive was the company’s only loss-making division during the last fiscal quarter, with titles such as Epic Mickey 2 and Brave failing to meet targets.

UPDATED:Disney Interactive has clarified to MCV that not all new movies will receive Disney Infinity content, and that it will still consider standalone games.

A spokesperson said: "Disney Infinity is designed as a platform that will grow over the years with content from some of our biggest franchises, but not every new gaming experience will appear on the platform.

"Our internal console development resources will focus on Disney Infinity, but we will evaluate each IP and determine whether it is a fit for Disney Infinity or if consumers would have a better experience with it as a standalone game."

The company added that Planes: The Video Game, based on the new Pixar film, will be released this month and Fantasia: Music Evolved will launch for Xbox One next year.