Disney Reportedly Plans to Sell Video Game Division Acquired in Fox Merger

Disney is reportedly planning to sell FoxNext Games, the video game studio it took ownership of after acquiring 21st Century Fox earlier this year.

Bloomberg reports that executives are currently looking into a potential sell-off of the division due to Disney’s growing efforts to license properties to third-party video game developers. Disney has declined to comment on Bloomberg’s information. However, Bob Iger, chief executive officer, Disney, previously stated he doesn’t foresee a future where the House of Mouse returns to self-publishing video games.

“Over the years, as you know, we’ve tried our hand at self-publishing,” Iger reportedly said in a February earnings call covered by Variety. “We’ve bought companies, we’ve sold companies, we’ve bought developers, we’ve closed developers. And we’ve found over the years that we haven’t been particularly good at the self-publishing side [of the video game market], but we’ve been great at the licensing side which obviously doesn’t require that much allocation of capital.”

Before acquiring 21st Century Fox and FoxNext, Disney had shuttered its gaming studios and reshaped its gaming agenda to focus on licensing properties to successful third-parties’ publishers. Since shuttering Disney Interactive Studios in 2016, the company has worked with partners to develop licensed games such as “LEGO Star Wars Battles” and “Marvel Dimension of Heroes.”