Source: Epic Mickey dev suffering layoffs

by Ben Gilbert on Jan 24th 2011 7:10PM

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']

Via: Eurogamer

Tags: disney, disney-interactive, disney-interactive-studios, Epic-Mickey, junction-point, junction-point-studios, layoffs, nintendo, source, warren-spector, wii

Reader Comments (37)

Jeeeze, this is really sad news.

Best of luck to those laid off, hope they can find work soon.

Even though I disliked Epic Mickey and the Wii... It's always shitty being fired. Best of luck guys.

PS
I can't help but imagine things might have been better if they made Epic Mickey a multiplatform title.

@President Taco

Did you even play Epic Mickey? This game wouldn't work the same unless it was on the PS3 with Move and the graphics are fine and don't really need to be any better.

I guess some people just need that Trophies/Achievement thing?

@ReginaldFish

This is incorrect. Epic Mickey was rumored as being one of the most expensive Wii titles made yet... Hence the lack of immediate profits becoming problematic. We're talking millions and millions in dev costs if memory serves correctly from the rumors back when.

This was not your typical Wii title, and it was toted as such through E3 and marketing funding... it just kind of dropped the ball and got mixed reviews. It happens, and it's unfortunate :/

That sucks, I heard the they might port Epick Mickey to the PS3 and hopefully that will help.

@Mustang Fanboy

No they are not.

Sick of hearing people who want [said game] to go multi-platform.

@ItsameMatt03
Yea, damn him for wanting a very good game to be available to a wider audience to enjoy.

@ItsameMatt03

They're probably just as sick of you.

@Mustang Fanboy

I understand the want for games, but the begging does get tiresome. It's the same thing with Alan Wake on PC and stuff. Stop begging, wait for an announcement.

This really sucks, especially considering I'm of the few that legitimately likes Epic Mickey. : (

Bad news. Epic Mickey is amazing, and Epic Mickey also sold over a million copies in December. I think Disney Interactive needs to learn how to run a profitable business. They've been a disaster so far. Finally they have a super successful game, then they somehow still suffer from layoffs. Ugh.

I'm sorry Junction Point! I bought the Collector's Edition on Day 1 and loved the game. I hope you get to make that sequel.

Are we sure that these aren't people who were brought in just for a little bit of work? Every developer ramps up its staff during the second half of the development process, and these people never had a stable job at these studios.

@ReginaldFish

I agree. Definitely overkill. Spector spoke about this on GTTV last year.

Balls. Epic Mickey was a great game.

I like Epic Mickey. There are some serious camera problems but it is worth playing because there are some really neat things I have never seen before. Something is really neat about exploring the Mickey Mouse world. I think the overly harsh reviews were mostly a result of the over hyping of this game and general hate of the Wii. It is worth picking up and experiencing if you love platformers like I do.

BTW - Every 3D platformer seems to get criticized for the camera in reviews and usually aren't that a big of deal. It is a shame that I haven't seen a camera this bad since Super Mario 3D.

@FriedConsole

I mean Super Mario 64.

@FriedConsole

There really isn't much more to say other than the camera is utterly frustrating. I didn't care for some of the environments, but that's a tiny drop in the bucket compared to the camera issues. Still, I liked it, and definitely recommend picking it up once the price drops a bit.

I'd just like to point out that I never once mentioned sales numbers or developer budget. I even went out of my way to not use the word "hate" when referencing the Wii... So WTF are you replying to?

1. Port Epic Mickey to PS3
2. Fix the few bugs/complaints (camera)
3. ????
4. Profit!

@Faenix

You heard it here first, folks. Porting your game to PS3 = automatic profit.

@KungFuChaosNinja

I never once said automatic profit. Get your BS outta here.

There are PS3 players who will buy it, move is wii remote 2.0 so wont take as much work, and they will be able to fix the camera - which was the MAIN issue.

There are many, many players who want it - some on PS3 - that are only holding back cause of the camera issues reported. Plus this game was originally going on all consoles, so why not do that now to get more profit?

@Faenix: The only thing you got right is that Move was indeed a Wiimote rip-off.

There is camera problems, and they used a cheap engine. If they fixed those two problems the product would have been much nicer.

Incredibly sad news. I'm frustrated seeing these cuts and studio closures.

Wild. Has to be due to bad management of Disney Interactive as a whole, as Epic Mickey has performed tremendously in America (not as good in Europe, though Disney's presence there overall is lesser)

@Mr Khan

Always something.

As bad as the camera was, if you could manage it was pretty good, and it looks like it did well; clocking in at #6..

Why Junction point? It seems so counter intuitive to get rid of them after saying you want to bring Mickey back as something more than a Lunch box sticker

Hopefully half of those guys were in charge of programming the camera.

I kid, I kid. Seriously, it's a shame. I loved the game (minus the camera).

i can't wait for the sequel, 'epic layoffs'.

...there goes another one. :/

This is very sad news. Not a good day all round.

@President Taco

Well I played "epic" mickey & I hated it.
My Wii is only happy with some DK returns.

Unenthusiastic loner guy on the far left will be first to go.

It's too bad that Epic Mickey couldn't have been multi-plat. This would have saved the studio - esp if they did a DS version...

Disney has such a history of putting out crappy games, one good game can't be expected to sell that quickly. I liked Epic Mickey, its a shame the devs aren't getting credit for putting out the first good Disney game since Fantasia for Genesis.

Epic Mickey

Source: Epic Mickey dev suffering layoffs

Reader Comments (37)

Posted: Jan 24th 2011 7:14PM Paragon8 said

Posted: Jan 24th 2011 7:16PM Raffi256 said

Posted: Jan 24th 2011 7:20PM President Taco said

Posted: Jan 24th 2011 7:50PM FriedConsole said

Posted: Jan 25th 2011 3:55AM Kingsly said

Posted: Jan 24th 2011 7:23PM Mustang Fanboy said

Posted: Jan 24th 2011 7:27PM ItsameMatt03 said

Posted: Jan 24th 2011 7:41PM Darkest Daze said

Posted: Jan 24th 2011 7:47PM Ezio Auditore da Firenze said

Posted: Jan 24th 2011 8:04PM KungFuChaosNinja said

Posted: Jan 24th 2011 7:24PM ouenwoof said

Posted: Jan 24th 2011 7:26PM KungFuChaosNinja said

Posted: Jan 24th 2011 7:27PM Gillespee said

Posted: Jan 24th 2011 7:28PM KungFuChaosNinja said

Posted: Jan 24th 2011 7:29PM KungFuChaosNinja said

Posted: Jan 24th 2011 7:35PM The Cole Train said

Posted: Jan 24th 2011 7:47PM FriedConsole said

Posted: Jan 24th 2011 7:47PM FriedConsole said

Posted: Jan 24th 2011 8:00PM Jacksons said

Posted: Jan 24th 2011 7:49PM President Taco said

Posted: Jan 24th 2011 7:50PM Faenix said

Posted: Jan 24th 2011 8:06PM KungFuChaosNinja said

Posted: Jan 24th 2011 8:42PM Faenix said

Posted: Jan 25th 2011 12:17AM Elranzer said

Posted: Jan 24th 2011 7:51PM mguniverse said

Posted: Jan 24th 2011 8:43PM atarii said

Posted: Jan 24th 2011 10:28PM Mr Khan said

Posted: Jan 25th 2011 4:56PM Johnnynumber5 is powered by cell said

Posted: Jan 24th 2011 10:32PM ND92 said

Posted: Jan 24th 2011 11:59PM EliminatorZigma said

Posted: Jan 25th 2011 12:11AM golobulus said

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Posted: Jan 25th 2011 1:12AM Hong Dong said

Posted: Jan 25th 2011 1:23AM Manifest37 said

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