
September 11, 2019

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.”Subscribe and receive the latest news from the industry.
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