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Report: Disney wants to buy UTV/Ignition for $454M
The Walt Disney Company is allegedly working to fully acquire UTV, parent company of Ignition Entertainment, for $454 million. Develop reports that Disney, which already owns 50.4 percent of UTV, is seeking to fully acquire the company for its Bollywood films and TV shows -- and not for its games. If the deal does happen, Ignition's fate would be in the hands of Disney. Ignition has been troubled for quite some time, altering its business strategy last year and ceasing to develop core games internally. Disney's strategy, on the other hand, has seen the shuttering of its core game studios like Black Rock and Propaganda, and a heavy emphasis on the social space. Disney's acquisition of UTV may have nothing to do with games on the surface, but it'll likely impact Ignition in a dramatic way.
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.
Rumor: Black Rock never had a chance with Disney, employees say
Some former Black Rock Studio employees claim the developer never stood a chance of surviving Disney Interactive's new direction. Last week, Disney announced that it's looking to shut down UK-based Black Rock Studio, developer of Split/Second, after the studio's current project was declined by Disney brass. "Really, [Disney] were just paying lip-service to us with this talk of the pitch," one anonymous source told Develop. "Anything we suggested wasn't going to be accepted." The employees claim that Disney had planned to shut down the studio at the start of the year, and that it wasn't in Black Rock's power to change its fate. Given the specificity of UK laws, the timing of the studio layoffs does imply Black Rock's demise was etched in stone and being orchestrated by the House of Mouse all the way back in January.
Report: Black Rock's final game was a freemium DOTA-style RTS
"Champions Alliance" was allegedly the title of the last project the soon-to-be shuttered Black Rock Studios was working on, according to a Eurogamer report. The game was allegedly a DOTA-style RTS, starring teenagers flung into an alternate dimension (okay ...). The project was said to be quite far along, with pre-production wrapping and a free-to-play business model set in place before Disney made its decision to close the dev house. "The game was intended to be released quite quickly, in beta anyway, in about six months or so," an anonymous source tells Eurogamer. "The idea was that you had to do PVP and PVE to gain XP to somehow escape." According to the source, "Disney seemed unable to work out what to do with the studio and didn't trust us to do anything other than racing, really." Since Disney is prepared to close the studio now, we wouldn't be surprised if footage of the unannounced project starts popping up in the near future.
Disney moves to close Split/Second developer Black Rock
Black Rock Studio, developer of Split/Second and Pure, will soon be blasted out of existence by the House of Mouse. In a statement provided to Eurogamer, Disney confirmed that none of the current projects at the studio were given the greenlight, and that employees had been told of an impending "consultation process" -- a 90-day phase under UK law warning of potential closure. It's a sad end for a developer that deserved better. Pure and Split/Second were both critically acclaimed racing games that had a rough time finding an audience. Layoffs began at the studio several months back and a few of the top brass have already formed new outfits. Black Rock Studio's General Manager Tony Beckwith tells Joystiq he can't "comment at the moment" on the situation.
Nintendo mass announces Wii, DS game launch dates
Clearly, Nintendo wants the back half of your year to have a strong financial plan. In two lengthy lists we spotted on the company's press site, everything from Kirby Wii to Pro Jumper! Chimaki's Hot Spring Tour Guilty Gear Tangent was given a more clear release date, with Kirby arriving some time in fall and the latter mystifying DSiWare shopgoers on June 23. If one game starring a puffy pink monster just wasn't enough, how about one for your DS on September 19? 'Cause that's exactly when Kirby Mass Attack is launching. A whole mess of other release date/windows/seasons are categorized for your fiduciary planning needs, just beyond the break.
OnLive gets Disney Interactive support, universal controller, heading to UK this fall
Black Rock Studios' excellent racers, Pure and Split/Second, are sliding to OnLive, the streaming game service announced today. The duo of arcade racing titles will lead the charge for Disney Interactive titles on the service, with LEGO Pirates of the Caribbean up next on the list. And that's not all -- OnLive had a bunch of news to drop just before E3 begins next week. For starters, the service will be officially launching in the UK at some point this fall. As with the company's North American debut, UK residents are encouraged to sign up for early "Founding Members" access -- the official UK site goes live in the coming days. Additionally, OnLive revealed intentions to make its way to a variety of "Intel-based consumer TVs, Blu-ray players, and set-top boxes" later this year. The first such devices will begin arriving this fall, and will reportedly stretch beyond the company's currently deal with consumer electronics manufacturer Vizio. Alongside the Intel deal, OnLive plans on launching a "universal wireless controller" that will work with said Intel-based devices. It looks and operates very much like the OnLive MicroConsole controller, and will come with a USB dongle for non-wireless devices. It's said to contain several different radio signals for working with a multitude of devices. You'll be able to brag to your friends all about how you're playing high-end PC games on your Intel-based TV on a wireless controller right from within games, pushing brag clips to Facebook. Which is to say, yes, OnLive is getting Facebook integration as well, starting June 7. Now, you'll excuse us if we take a moment to catch our breath.%Gallery-125195%
Split/Second game director, producer form RoundCube Entertainment
Two of Black Rock Studios' biggest players have decided to form their own thing: RoundCube Entertainment. Nick Baynes, game director on Split/Second, will head up the new outfit, while Ian Monaghan, previously senior producer at Black Rock, will now act as development director. Both were affected by the latest round of layoffs from parent company, Disney. According to GI.biz, about 30 currently remain at Black Rock, toiling away on a project for Disney. As for RoundCube, they haven't announced what they're going to do next, but if you ask us it should have something to do with tiny increments of time.
Disney Universe sounds like Kingdom Hearts with better hair [update: trailer!]
We've all had the thought while playing a Kingdom Hearts game: "Sure, this is fun, I just wish my clothes didn't have so many buckles on them." Your prayers may have been answered by Disney Universe, a new multiplayer action game unveiled this morning for the 360, PS3 and Wii. Here's what we can extrapolate from the release: Players will team with friends and battle bad guys in six Disney-themed worlds with the aid of Disney character costumes, each with their own special powers. We're hoping for the Uncle Remus costume that will allow us to disappear from store shelves for decades. Maybe that's not terribly likely, but we'll all find out together when Disney Universe Zip-a-Dee-Doo-Drops this fall. Update: Catch a teaser trailer after the break. We're sure that scene of a character swinging a key like a sword is just there coincidentally.
Disney confirms layoffs at Split/Second dev Black Rock
Last night, word came in that around 40 jobs were in danger at Split/Second developer Black Rock Studio. Disney issued a statement to Eurogamer confirming cuts at the company, though not a number: "Disney Interactive Studios confirms a reduction of its workforce from its Brighton-based internal game development studio, Black Rock Studios," a representative said. " The studio will continue its work on its current project." While Disney didn't offer an official number, Eurogamer's tipster clarified that it wasn't 40 jobs that were in danger, it was 40 jobs that weren't. According to the anonymous source, "Around 100 jobs are at risk." Black Rock survived the layoffs that came from Disney's "restructuring" in late January. At that time, studio head Tony Beckwith told Joystiq the studio was "fine."
Report: Split/Second dev Black Rock facing layoffs
UK-based developer Black Rock Studio is said to be on the verge of eliminating as many as 40 positions. Eurogamer cites an unnamed source at the company, who says the layoffs are coming Thursday morning "with the aim of reducing the studio to a single game team." The source goes into further detail about recent happenings at the studio, including the cancellation of a Split/Second sequel during pre-production and the shooting down of multiple game pitches by its parent company, Disney Interactive. Nearly half of Black Rock's staff is said to have been spinning its wheels without a project for several months as a result, so the source says the layoffs -- which have been hitting in waves across Disney's gaming unit since last year -- don't really come as a surprise. There's evidently a silver lining on this most recent unemployment-spawned grey cloud, at least; according to the source, the slimmed-down Black Rock will continue work on a "promising" but "new and risky" title that's already in development. We've reached out to Disney for comment on the report and our best wishes go out to anyone affected by the layoffs. If you're among that group and would like to share your story, contact us.
Disney Interactive lays off 80 more
Disney Interactive has reportedly let another 80 or so employees go, adding to the more than 250 people that were let go earlier this year. Co-presidents James Pitaro and John Pleasants are overseeing the cuts, trying to trim down a division that once had more than 4,000 employees by seven percent or so. Last month, Pleasants, who used to run social game company Playdom, told investors that he wanted to cut the operating costs of the division by 25 percent, and it's likely these layoffs are part of that plan. Officially, Disney called the layoffs "targeted," and said they were "part of setting a strategic direction for future success in digital media." Hopefully this is the last round of exits we'll see from the shrinking House of Interactive Mouse.
Lego Pirates of the Caribbean coming to 3DS with exclusive StreetPass feature
You'll be able to guide a swaying pile of rum-soaked plastic bricks through supernatural high-seas adventure in 3D this May. Disney and WB revealed that Lego Pirates of the Caribbean: The Video Game will be released on Nintendo 3DS in May, alongside versions for Wii, Xbox 360, PS3, PSP, PC, Mac, and DS -- and alongside the Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides movie, of course. The 3DS version includes a few exclusive features, like support for the system's pedometer-acquired "Play Coins," and a StreetPass feature, "Pirate Duels," that automatically engages virtual Lego pirates against one another when two 3DS systems come within communication range -- with even more Play Coins awarded to the winner.%Gallery-116769%
Disney Interactive sees growth in Q1 2011 despite 'acquisition accounting'
The Walt Disney Company has reported its earnings for the first quarter of 2011, and the Interactive Media department saw revenues increase 58 percent from last year over the same period, to $349 million. Despite "higher sales of console games" this year (Epic Mickey and Toy Story 3 are cited as part of the "strong performance"), the company says that the acquisition of Playdom nevertheless led to a segment operating results loss of $13 million, an increase from the $10 million loss the year before. In other words, Disney Interactive is doing better, but was still brought down by what it calls "the impact of acquisition accounting" -- the money spent on Playdom (presumably a one-time cost) sent the department into the red for the quarter. Unfortunately, that leaves Interactive Media to be the only division showing a loss for the quarter; Media Networks, Parks and Resorts, Studio Entertainment and Consumer Products all showed nice growth. Disney probably isn't too worried, though. Not that Disney Interactive has another Epic Mickey-sized title coming up that we know about, but the Playdom deal's after-echos are disguising what appears to be some steady growth that the home office will hopefully see for what it is.
Disney Interactive implements mass layoffs; status of Junction Point, Black Rock currently unknown
Beyond Disney Interactive's layoffs today at Junction Point and last week's closure of Propaganda Games, sources tell Joystiq that the division's job cuts go much deeper. We've been informed in this "first round" of layoffs that 250 people have been let go. Numerous attempts to obtain an official statement from Disney have gone unanswered. There is currently no word on the overall status of Split/Second developer Black Rock Studios nor Warren Spector's Junction Point, which recently released Disney Epic Mickey, a title we've been told has not sold as well as expected. Sources also tell us that the fate of Spector could be separate from that of the studio. Massive changes at the division have come at a steady clip ever since Disney bought social game developer Playdom for upwards of $563.2 million. Then there was the double-barreled resignation of longtime boss Graham Hopper and bigwig Steve Wadsworth. It is currently the era of James Pitaro and former Playdom CEO John Pleasants, who are seeking not to repeat the division's $234 million loss this fiscal year. Update: Disney's terse official statement: "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"
Source: Epic Mickey dev suffering layoffs
Despite a number six debut on December's NPD charts, Epic Mickey apparently can't save Junction Point Studios from post-launch staff cuts. Sources speaking with Joystiq confirm that Disney Interactive issued layoffs at the Warren Spector-helmed studio today, though exact numbers are unknown -- we've contacted Disney for comment, but we imagine those plans for sequels to Epic Mickey aren't looking so solid right now. Following last week's closure of Disney Interactive-owned Propaganda Games, today's layoffs represent further steps back for the publisher in terms of "core" game development endeavors, and, we fear, may not be the last of Disney's cuts. Disney also owns Split/Second developer Black Rock Studios, and most recently acquired social game developer Playdom. Update: Layoffs hit entire Disney Interactive division. [Image credit: Flickr user 'junctionpoint']
Propaganda Games shuttered
Propaganda Games -- developer of 2008's Turok reboot and, most recently, Tron: Evolution -- is officially closed. Parent company and publisher Disney Interactive confirmed the unfortunate news to Joystiq this afternoon, issuing this statement: "Disney Interactive Studios confirms the closure of its Vancouver-based internal game development studio, Propaganda Games. The studio has completed all work associated with its most recent project." Propaganda's Pirates of the Caribbean game was canceled last October, and the studio was reduced in size, with the only apparent goal to complete Tron and its planned post-launch DLC. It's as yet unclear if any more DLC will be released beyond the day-one freebie. [Thanks, Alex]
12 Days of Joyswag: Tron: Evolution Collector's Edition, 12" vinyl, and DS game
To celebrate the holidays, we're having twelve straight days of giveaways up through Christmas day. And while we say it's to celebrate, really ... we're simply getting rid of some of the larger packages around the ol' office. And for our fourth giveaway, we're celebrating Tron's return to theaters tonight with swag from its return to video games last week. There's a Tron: Evolution Collector's Edition for Xbox 360, replete with fancy light cycle model, a copy of Tron: Evolution for Nintendo DS (which we're certain is indistinguishable from its console counterpart) and a limited edition (only 200 made, we're told!) 12" vinyl LP of the game's soundtrack. Not a bad haul, and all you have to do is leave a comment to enter. Full rules past the break.%Gallery-111616%
Interview: Tron Legacy screenwriters on gaming and the 'DNA of Tron'
"I think gaming is in the DNA of Tron," says screenwriter Eddy Kitsis. "When the original came out in 1982, it really introduced the concept of a video game and it just blew my mind, because you play video games in the arcade and you're like,'Wow, what would happen behind the screen?'" Jeff Bridges' character Kevin Flynn was a gamer himself, Tron creator Steven Lisberger was inspired by early video games, and the images we remember of the first Tron aren't necessarily of the complicated metaphor of the Master Control Program and ENCOM's intra-company battle. They're of light cycles and disc fighting and the games. "Gaming is a gateway drug, and I mean that in the best sense," says Kitsis' writing partner Adam Horowitz (the two wrote the screenplay to Tron Legacy, after writing on Lost nearly since the beginning). "That's how I got excited about computers and technology and storytelling." Gaming was intrinsic to the first Tron, but when director Joseph Kosinski was finally given the go-ahead by Disney to make a sequel, he says he "had to evolve the classic games forward." And so Tron Legacy plays much closer to its characters, and farther away from the game metaphor. The games are there (in new forms), but the real gaming experience to be found in the new world of Tron, almost twenty years after its release, is -- go figure -- in the video game itself.
