Disney closes Vancouver's Propaganda Games
Tron and Turok studio latest victim of corporation's waning interest in console
Disney has announced that it will be closing Propaganda Games in Vancouver, after the studio's latest project failed to reach sales expectations. 100 staff had already been laid off from Propaganda late last year.
The developer had most recently produced Tron:Evolution, a tie-in game for the recent Disney film reboot, and had been working on an RPG based on the Pirates of the Caribbean franchise - since cancelled, but Disney confirmed to Gamasutra yesterday that it was pulling the plug. "The studio has completed all work associated with its most recent project," read a statement.
The move seems to reflect Disney's new direction of social and mobile development, which began with a statement to press last November that the corporation would be putting less money into console development in order to maximise profit.
"We've seen a pretty big shift in games from console to what I'll call multiplatform, everything from mobile apps to social networking games, and by putting John Pleasants in to run games, not only will be the focus on turning those businesses into profitability, but diversifying our presence in the business," said Bob Iger, Disney CEO in November.
Pleasants had previously been CEO of Playdom interactive, which Disney acquired for $763 million in July, 2010.