formerly called walt disney computer software disney interactive buena vista games type subsidiary industry interactive entertainment founded 1988 ; 28 years ago 1988 as walt disney computer software headquarters glendale california united states products video games owner the walt disney company parent disney interactive website disney.interactive disney interactive studios inc. is an american video game developer and publisher owned by the walt disney company through disney interactive . it develops and distributes multi platform video games and interactive entertainment worldwide . . most of the games released by disney interactive studios were typically tie in products to existing character franchises . 1 on may 10 2016 as a result of the discontinuation of its disney infinity franchise disney interactive studios exited from publishing its own games in order to focus on third party development of video game adaptations of its franchises by other developers such as electronic arts warner bros. interactive entertainment and sony interactive entertainment . however it continues to release games for ios and android devices under its own label disney mobile . contents 1 history 1.1 walt disney computer software 1.2 disney interactive 1.3 buena vista games 2003 2007 1.4 disney interactive studios 2 list of games 2.1 games in development 3 divisions 3.1 former defunct 4 see also 5 references 6 external links history edit walt disney computer software edit in 1988 disney started its own in house gaming unit 1 walt disney computer software wdcs . wdcs generally used third party development studios to design spin off games using its existing portfolio of characters . wdcs had little success attributed by senior disney executives due to low product quality and lack of understanding the differences between film and games . 2 the few market successes were third party published games based on major disney animated features like aladdin and the lion king in 1993 . this led to a move from self developed and self published to funding and development management of games with third parties published the game . 2 disney interactive edit using the film studio style formula wdcs was reorganized into disney interactive di 2 on december 5 1994 with the merging of wdcs and walt disney television and telecommunications division . 3 4 5 6 7 on april 15 1997 di reduced its staff by 20 % ending in house video game production . 8 this increased the requests for licensing from third party games companies . under this plan development and production cost risks were transferred to the game companies but reduced the per unit revenue generated to disney and effectively yielded a near 100 percent margin of licensed game sales . 2 a thirteen game agreement was made between nintendo of america and disney interactive in 1999 for both the nintendo 64 and game boy color . 9 buena vista games 2003 2007 edit buena vista games bvg was spun out of disney interactive in 2003 after a 2002 strategic review that chose to return to being a dedicated games publisher . with di focused on children s games bvg took on all other content game including mobile and online mediums . 2 buena vista games is probably best known for the kingdom hearts series along with japanese developer square enix . citation needed in april 2005 bvg purchased avalanche software in salt lake city utah and started a vancouver british columbia based game development studio 10 propaganda games . 11 in september 2006 buena vista acquired climax racing . 12 bvg formed a new game studio fall line studio in november 2006 to create disney and new game titles for nintendo ds and the wii console . 13 disney interactive studios edit in 2007 the walt disney company renamed buena vista games to disney interactive studios . 14 the studio publishes both disney and non disney branded video games for all platforms worldwide with titles that feature its consumer brands including disney abc espn and touchstone which is used as a label for disney . in july 2007 the studio acquired junction point studios . 15 on june 5 2008 disney interactive studios and the walt disney internet group merged into a single business unit now known as the disney interactive media group 16 and it merged its subsidiary fall line studios with its sister studio avalanche software in january 2009 . 17 in february 2009 disney interactive acquired gamestar a chinese game development company . 18 on september 8 2009 disney interactive announced that it had acquired wideload games . 19 dis in october 2012 announced toy box a cross platform gaming initiative where pixar and disney characters will interact from a console game to multiple mobile and online applications . 20 the first toy box cross platform game is disney infinity based on the toy story 3 game s toy box mode crossed with a toy line . 21 after the purchase of lucasfilm by the walt disney company in 2012 disney interactive assumed the role of developing star wars games for the casual gaming market while electronic arts would develop star wars games for the core gaming market through an exclusive license although lucasarts did retain the ability to license star wars games to other developers for the casual gaming market . 22 23 at e3 2013 disney and square enix released a teaser trailer for kingdom hearts iii after going seven years of not declaring any console kingdom hearts game since kingdom hearts ii . disney interactive studios has lost more than 200 million per year from 2008 2012 24 during a period in which it shut down propaganda games 25 black rock studio 26 and junction point studios 27 and its co president john pleasants stepped down in november 2013 after the launch of disney infinity . 24 on march 6 2014 700 employees were laid off . 28 with a lack of growth in toys to life market and increasing developmental costs disney interactive discontinued disney infinity and closed down the unit that developed infinity avalanche software in may 2016 . also the company ended all self publishing efforts . a discontinuation charge of 147 million for ending its console gaming business affected earning . 29 list of games edit main article list of disney interactive studios games the company also publishes games from q entertainment worldwide except asia lumines ii the sequel to the puzzle game for the psp system ; lumines plus a new version of lumines for the playstation 2 ; every extend extra a puzzle shooter ; and a disney interactive studios s meteos disney edition the popular meteos game for the nintendo ds with disney characters . the company revealed a lineup of games at e3 2006 which include die s turok a re imagining of the video game series of the same name and desperate housewives the game based on the hit television show . disney interactive studios is credited in all entries to the kingdom hearts franchise with the original release box art of each entry to the series having different logos and name of the company seeing as coincidentally the company is re branded in between the releases . notably however the company is not credited to actually developing the game . 30 games in development edit kingdom hearts iii tba co production with square enix playstation 4 xbox one 31 32 divisions edit gamestar based in china . acquired february 2009 18 rocket pack lucasarts based in san francisco . acquired in 2013 only for licensing and co publishing . playdom club penguin disney mobile disney online former defunct edit propaganda games 2005 2011 . black rock studio acquired as climax racing in september 2006 12 and closed in july 2011 26 fall line studios 2006 2009 merged into avalanche 17 junction point studios based in austin texas . acquired july 2007 15 shut down in january 2013 . 27 lucasarts based in san francisco . acquired in 2013 shut down as developer in 2013 wideload games based in chicago illinois . acquired september 8 2009 . shut down march 6 2014 avalanche software based in salt lake city utah . acquired april 2005 . 17 shut down may 10 2016 . 29 see also edit covox speech thing references edit a b kohler chris october 16 2012 . how videogames are changing disney . wired.com . retrieved 17 october 2012 . a b c d e gibson nick february 1 2009 . disney assault on games market acquisitions and restructuring underpin rapid growth . screen digest . retrieved 17 october 2012 . polsson ken . july to december 1994 . chronology of the walt disney company . ken polsson . retrieved 6 december 2012 . fisher maxine 1988 . walt disney . pp . a8 . the new york times . december 6 1994 . pp . d5 . missing or empty title help ; access date requires url help cd rom today . 3 2 26 . 19 february 1995 . missing or empty title help windows magazine . 6 3 42 . march 1995 . missing or empty title help polsson ken . 1997 . chronology of the walt disney company . kpolsson.com . retrieved 7 december 2012 . source cnet news.com http www.news.cnet.com . page 114 . volume 121 june 1999 . nintendo power . accessed april 18 2016 . kawamoto dawn april 19 2005 . disney scoops up avalanche founds new studio . gamespot.com . retrieved 22 october 2012 . disney digs up turok . gamespot.com . may 13 2005 . retrieved 22 october 2012 . a b sinclair brendan september 28 2006 . buena vista games to acquire climax racing . gamespot.com . retrieved 22 october 2012 . disney to make nintendo games . los angeles times . reuters . november 8 2006 . retrieved 19 october 2012 . fixmer andy april 25 2007 . disney to drop buena vista brand name people say . bloomberg . retrieved august 8 2007 . a b disney buys game developer junction point . los angeles times . bloomberg news . july 13 2007 . retrieved 19 october 2012 . disney s games and internet divisions merging joystiq.com 2008 . a b c sinclair brendan january 29 2009 . disney layoffs hit turok bolt studios . gamespot.com . retrieved 22 october 2012 . a b disney interactive studios buys chinese gaming studio gamestar . cbs news.com . pearl research . february 11 2009 . retrieved 19 october 2012 . disney interactive studios to buy wideload games . entertainment close up . september 9 2009 . retrieved 17 october 2012 . barnes brooks october 21 2012 . disney struggling to find its digital footing overhauls disney.com . the new york times . retrieved 23 october 2012 . lang derrik j. january 15 2013 . disney unveils own skylanders like franchise . business week . ap . retrieved 30 january 2013 . electronic arts selected for multi year agreement for the future of star wars gaming . lucasfilm . star wars.com . retrieved 6 may 2013 . while ea studios will develop for the core star wars gaming audience disney interactive will focus on delivering new star wars games for casual audiences on mobile social tablet and online gaming platforms . the walt disney company and ea announce multi year star wars games agreement . fort mill times . 6 may 2013 . retrieved 6 may 2013 . a b miller daniel 3 february 2014 . disney interactive expected to begin layoffs . la times . retrieved 5 february 2014 . propaganda games shuttered from joystiq.com a b split second dev black rock to close from eurogamer a b lang derrik j. january 29 2013 . disney closing epic mickey video game developer . washington times . ap . retrieved 30 january 2013 . matulef jeffrey 6 march 2014 . disney interactive lays off 700 staff . eurogamer . gamer network . retrieved 7 march 2014 . a b macy seth g.