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Longtime Disney games boss Graham Hopper hops off
Graham Hopper, the longtime head of Disney Interactive Studios, won't be sticking around long enough to witness the lasting impact of next week's Epic Mickey, which marks the most important release of his eight-year stint with the games group. Hopper's departure from Disney was announced in a company memo yesterday and follows a dismal fiscal year for the Interactive Media division, whose president resigned two months ago, ushering in the new era of "Jack and Jim." According to the Los Angeles Times, Hopper said in an internal email, "The time has come for me to move on from the company and set my sights on new horizons." Hopper joined Disney in 1991 before being appointed head of the games group in 2002. He was instrumental in the 2007 acquisition of Warren Spector's Junction Point Studios, the developer of Epic Mickey, in addition to Disney Interactive Studios' general foray into non-Disney-brand titles, including Black Rock Studio's Pure and Split/Second racing games. Of course, with Playdom exec John Pleasants now running the show, there are going to be some changes around Disney's games department -- no matter how epic Mickey's adventure proves to be at retail. [Pictured: Hopper (with Epic Mickey ears); original photo credit: Disney Interactive Studios]
Disney wants to take Epic Mickey to 'Nintendo levels' on the Wii
Gamasutra got a chance to speak with the executive VP and GM of Disney Interactive Studios, Graham Hopper, who says that Disney is swinging for the stands on their future game releases. The games division is learning from "pure" gaming studios and their success, and while Hopper admits that the company hasn't always treated their properties correctly on the gaming side, starting with Disney's Epic Mickey, it wants to "give their projects the time and appropriate resources to be successful." In other words, let them stand on their own as games, rather than squeeze them up against a movie's release date. And Hopper hopes for quite the payoff, too -- while third-party titles on the Wii have been hit or miss (mostly miss), Hopper expects Epic Mickey's success to go "to Nintendo levels." He does say that they don't want to turn Mickey into Mario by "simply using him as an icon or an avatar in a game," but Disney's goal in the future will be to make sure that each of their properties' appearances are worth it. Hopper says if they port a film to five different gaming platforms, customers should expect "not the same story five times over, but five different stories, each uniquely suited for the platform they're on." A good plan to have, but much easier said than done.
Disney games boss: You can't get by on just 'good' IP today
Disney Interactive's executive VP and general manager, Graham Hopper, believes that companies can't get by on just a "good" IP in this economic climate and that there needs to be substance in a game -- we're sure the "new THQ" agrees. Hopper tells MCV that he's "excited" about Split/Second, the new racer from Black Rock Studio, which is the development house behind the critically acclaimed Pure. And if that's the case, we're certain he's "super duper" excited about whatever top secret project gaming legend Warren Spector and his Junction Point Studios – which Disney acquired over two years ago now – are working on. Hopefully Disney Interactive's fortunes turn around with this initiative; the company certainly needs the revenue. There's also plenty of good executive hires available for the company to come up with something new, if this latest strategy doesn't work out.
