Disney is done publishing console video games, including the franchise-spanning Disney Infinity. The company said it took a $147 million charge from the "discontinuation of our self-published console games business", much of which came from writing down the value of Disney Infinity products.
Disney Infinity was a massive investment into the toys-to-life genre, and figurines representing everyone from Frozen's Elsa to Star Wars: The Force Awakens' Finn were ubiquitous wherever toys and video games were sold. But an internal memo reportedly sent out to Disney employees says the company could no longer justify investing in Infinity with growth in the genre leveling off.
Here is the internal memo sent out just a few minutes.Disney Infinity is no more#DisneyInfinity pic.twitter.com/KbNBwTv6wnMay 10, 2016
According to the Disney Interactive blog, Disney Infinity will get two final retail sets: an Alice Through the Looking Glass pack later in May, and a Finding Dory Play Set in June. Disney did not publicly say what its withdrawal from the market means for the employees of Disney Interactive, but I would expect major layoffs, if they haven't already begun.
With Infinity gone, both Skylanders and Lego Dimensions remain as major "toys to life" contenders (also Nintendo's Amiibo, kind of). As for other console games, Disney plans to focus solely on licensing out its properties from now on.
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