Disney Should Return To Gaming, Says Warren Spector
Paolo Sirio
If you recall, there was a time when Disney went quite big in gaming, with a lot of titles being produced both from original intellectual properties and character historically owned by the company.
One of the most talented developers who has worked under that banner is Warren Spector, who, while disappointed about the way the relationship with the entertainment giant ended, still feels Disney should return to make games.
Spector said Disney should “absolutely” return to making games, as “with the properties they control, I think just being a licensing organization is a real shame.”
“When I joined Disney I said, ‘why doesn’t Disney own video games? We should own it.’ And I do think that we made some strides towards that. Whatever the core gamers think, the Epic Mickey games actually sold very well and whatever other people think, I’m hugely proud of them. Deus Ex and Epic Mickey are probably the two games I’m most proud of for a variety of reasons.
One of the reasons I wanted to work on a Mickey Mouse game was so that I could take the idea and philosophy behind games like Deus Ex, Thief or System Shock and reach a larger audience. And it worked pretty well — Epic Mickey was the best selling game I’ve ever worked on by far.”
The Epic Mickey games were good games, and it was disappointing to see all their potential go to waste once Disney had decided to pull the plug. Same as Disney Infinity, which ultimately caused all of that because the toys to life bubble eventually burst.
So, considering they now own Marvel, Fox and Star Wars, seeing them just licensing their properties instead of setting up studios to work on them feels a bit of wasted potential, considering they have a lot, a tremendous lot of resources.
What do you think, instead?
About the author
