Disney to triple spending on game development

by Jared Rea { Jun 11th 2007 at 7:35PM }

Curse you, Tyler Bleszinski! Did we not warn you that they were listening? Not that they needed any sort of incentive, Disney CFO Tom Staggs told the Hollywood Reporter today that they plan to triple their game development budget, taking them from $130 million to about $350 million over the next five years.

With Pirates of the Caribbean Online and other titles in the works, Staggs laid out a bit of the strategy saying that about 70% of their efforts would be concentrated on their current franchises with the remainder going on to establish original properties, as seen in the DS hit, Spectrobes. Speaking of which, Staggs casually mentions that Spectrobes "warrants a sequel in the games business."

Then again, do they really need to be doing anything different? It sure would benefit gamers if Disney were to invest more in elbow grease to improve their products, but with titles like Cars selling nearly 8 million units and Hannah Montana for the DS baffling sales chart watchers for months, they could simply increase production and achieve the same, if not greater results.

Tags: disney

Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)

NintendoFanbot @ Jun 11th 2007 8:00PM

I wish they'd spend some money on GOOD 2D animated movies. There might not be huge market for 2D in theaters anymore, but their 3D projects are currently lower than the standards when Pixar made Toy Story.

Or they could get good people to improve their 3D animation.

Stevo @ Jun 11th 2007 8:15PM

NintendoFanbot...you remind me of the days of Lion King, Little Mermaid...and my personal favorite, Aladdin (which was also one hell of a game). I haven't seen an animated film in the theaters since Lion King...regardless, it's good to see Disney getting more involved w/ gaming-- I could see them doing some really great things in the future.

Kamizar @ Jun 11th 2007 8:24PM

That has to be one of the most disturbing pictures ever...

Christian @ Jun 11th 2007 9:11PM

Phil of the Future!! I love that show! ...and Aly Michalka...

Too bad they ended it a season earlier than they should have. I actually had a more game-suitable plot than shows like Lizzie McGuire, That's So Raven, or Hannah Montana did/do.

CubeGuy @ Jun 11th 2007 9:30PM

You guys, check out the link below. Apparently, Disney *is* going back to some more traditional art.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Princess_and_the_Frog

Lijik @ Jun 11th 2007 9:57PM

NintendoFanbot, if this was a year ago when all they had was Dinosaur, Chicken Little, and The Wild to their name, I would agree with you, but Meet the Robinsons was beyond awesome.

Markham @ Jun 11th 2007 10:05PM

I agree with Lijik. Disney seems to have changed since it basically payed Pixar to take over. Seriously, booting the director responsible for Chicken Little and The Wild and putting John Lasseter (Iron Giant, The Incredibles) as cheif creative officer was part of Pixar's "demands" for being bought out.

sheppy @ Jun 11th 2007 10:26PM

"I wish they'd spend some money on GOOD 2D animated movies. There might not be huge market for 2D in theaters anymore, but their 3D projects are currently lower than the standards when Pixar made Toy Story.

Or they could get good people to improve their 3D animation."

Blame Eisner. Seriously.

The man ran the company to shit. He was the one, after years of cranking out bad 2D, finding an occasional diamond in the rough that hits to exploit to the point of being absolutely worthless (Lilo & Stich, Emperor's New Groove), and making sequels after sequels after sequels and then blaming 2D instead of the sheer valume of worthless shit they cranked out, he eventually pulled the plug on 2D.

Thankfully, Lasseter is in charge now. Which means he's not only pushing 2D back into theatres, but he's also bringing back those animated shorts in front of movies, like waaaay back when. I believe the first will be a Goofy how-to in setting up a home theatre. And he was a major factor in how Disney 3D got stepped way the fuck up after the messes that were The Wild and Chicken Little. And he was the major force within Disney that brought Studio Ghibli pictures stateside. Howl's Moving Castle? Thank Lasseter. There are brighter days ahead, now that Eisner is all but removed.