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Bill Roper named Disney Interactive head of game development
Bill Roper's been flying under the radar since leaving Cryptic Studios in 2010. He briefly surfaced as VP of the Marvel Franchise division of Disney Interactive Media Group last summer, and he's now stepping into the role of head of game development. Roper replaces Alex Seropian, who helped found Bungie in the 1990s before joining Disney when it acquired his Wideload Games studio in 2009. Roper is a former Blizzard vice president and founder of Flagship Studios, which was mostly known for developing the original incarnation of Hellgate: London.
Bill Roper looking to partner with Korean companies for more MMO development
You may remember Bill Roper from Diablo. Or, more likely, you remember him from Hellgate: London and Champions Online, probably with emotions that are somewhat less than fond. Several months ago, he was appointed the Vice President of Disney Interactive Media Group, and it looks like Roper is continuing down a path he's walked many times before. As he oversees the production of games based on Marvel properties, he's also looking for partners to start developing an MMO. Specifically, Roper is looking for a partner company in South Korea to work on co-development for several titles, which include MMOs. The obvious benefit for the Korean company would be increased visibility of licensed properties, with Roper hoping that a visit to the nation will produce a better way of developing new games. No word yet on whether or not anyone is interested in the offer, but there's probably no shortage of gamers made apprehensive by anything involving Bill Roper and a new online game.
Disney's Interactive Media division reduces losses in Q3
Disney's studio shutdowns may have had at least some of the desired effect: The Disney Interactive Media Group reports that the third quarter has brought decreased losses for the division year-over-year. The group remains the only division in the company operating at a loss, but revenues increased (thanks to Lego Pirates of the Carribbean and Cars 2, according to the studio) and losses decreased to $86 million a year. Disney still blames most of the losses on the acquisition of social developer Playdom last year, but good news is good news. Hopefully this means an end to all of the layoffs around the division.
Ex-Cryptic CCO Bill Roper joins Disney Interactive Media Group
Bill Roper's cultivated an impressive resume during his tenure with the gaming industry, including executive positions with Blizzard North, Flagship Studios and Cryptic Studios. He left the latter developer -- his last place of employment -- last August, and today revealed his new home: The Disney Interactive Media Group, where he'll work as the vice president of the Marvel franchise. Disney General Manager of Games Alex Seropian said, "With 17 years of experience in the worldwide gaming industry, we are confident that Bill has the creative vision necessary to help guide the next wave of development and product for DIMG's Marvel Games." We too are confident in Roper's abilities. And, considering his legacy, we can't wait to see how much dope loot he can squeeze into the next Spider-Man title.
Disney Interactive Media Group appoints Bill Roper as Vice President, Marvel Franchise
Fans of Marvel Comics have been on the edge of their seats ever since the announcement that Disney had acquired the comic publishing giant, and they're surely anxious to know that their beloved characters will be in good hands. Well, thanks to a press release from Disney Interactive Media Group today, we now know exactly whose hands they will be in. DIMG has appointed Bill Roper, former VP of Blizzard North and former Chief Creative Officer of Cryptic Studios, as Vice President, Marvel Franchise. Alex Seropian, Senior Vice President and General Manager says of the appointment, "We are pleased to have Bill join our team. With 17 years of experience in the worldwide gaming industry, we are confident that Bill has the creative vision necessary to help guide the next wave of development and product for DIMG's Marvel Games." It seems like Disney has big plans for the Marvel franchise. What those plans are remain to be seen, though Roper will obviously play a large part in Marvel's future in the gaming industry.
Disney Interactive gets two new presidents
Their names were John Pleasants and James Pitaro -- two hard-nosed CEOs from different sides of the track -- even though everybody who knew anything called them Jack and Jim. Jack grew up on the mean streets of EA until he gave 'em the clean sneak and shacked up with Playdom. Man, the team there was so green Kermit woulda tossed them a pity nickel, but he worked 'em into a lean crew the Mouse House just couldn't resist. Pitaro, now he used to real choir boy, running sports over at Yahoo!. That was until someone from the media division looked at him the wrong way and he cleaned house over there so bad he was the only one left standing to see how spic 'n' span it was. Now when the two of them took over as co-presidents of Disney Interactive way back at the beginning of October 2010, the two of them really started getting gashouse. Heck, there wasn't a fakealoo artist or roundheel left in that clip joint after Jack (who ran the games) and Jim (the online guy) were finished tuning them up. Yep, they was about the best damn buttons I ever seen ... best I ever seen.
MMO Family: A parent's look at World of Cars Online
MMO Family is your resource for leveling a gaming-specced family, from tips on balancing gaming with family life to finding age-appropriate online games for everyone in the family. How could you not fall in love with a Disney/Pixar movie? I'm not sure that's even possible. Cars revved up belly laughs in the theater back in 2006, earning two Oscar nominations and raking in more than a dozen other industry awards. Kids were captivated by the feisty little car characters, and grownups chuckled at voicing from such high-octane stars as Owen Wilson, Paul Newman and even Cheech Marin. The MMO version of the franchise, which officially launched last month, pulls away from the starting line without this full tank of charisma. World of Cars Online hits on all cylinders yet somehow fails to throttle up into the type of completely engaging world we've come to expect from a Disney/Pixar creation. It's a 2-D, minigame-centric experience with lots (and we do mean lots) of point-and-click racing. Still, if you've got a young boy around the house who's hankering to burn a little online rubber, World of Cars is an inexpensive, kid-friendly way to do it.
Disney Interactive Media experiences $295 million loss for year
The Walt Disney Company may be holding its own in this tough economic time, but its Interactive Media division, which includes Disney Interactive and Disney Online, ended the corporation's fiscal year with a $295 million loss. This follows the division's $258 million loss last year -- it is the only group in the company hemorrhaging cash. PaidContent quotes outgoing CFO Tom Staggs explaining the situation away, "We're making an investment (in self-published video games). We're currently in a loss situation and would like to see that reverse itself as we build out to scale."Optimistically, next year could be better with the release of Split/Second and Epic Mickey ... optimistically.Source -- Disney fiscal year results [PDF link]
Disney's games and internet divisions merging
Disney Interactive Studios and the company's Internet Group will merge into one unit, named Disney Interactive Media Group. Disney Interactive Studios has published games like Hannah Montana, High School Musical and Turok; meanwhile, the internet division was responsible for hundreds of online casual games and Pirates of the Caribbean Online. Clearly, the merger makes sense, and can be likened to when Sony Online Entertainment became part of SCEI.Variety speculates the merger is so that Disney can report all its digital revenues in one spot, instead of games being lumped in with the consumer products. It doesn't appear many (if any) pink slips will be handed out in the unification, as these seemingly offline and online games divisions continue doing their separate things. Source -- Disney Merging WDIG Group With Games UnitSource -- AllThingsD Iger memo
