Disney Interactive Studios is an America-based worldwide video game producer and division of the larger Disney Interactive, serving as the company's self-publishing arm for video games and other interactive media. They have assisted in the development of and have published games such as Kingdom Hearts, Epic Mickey, and Spectrobes.
History[]
In 1988, Disney Interactive was initially founded as Walt Disney Computer Software. After reaching some success, in 1994, the studio was merged with the Walt Disney Television and Telecommunications division, simply becoming Disney Interactive.
In 2003, Buena Vista Games was founded as a division of Disney Interactive. While Disney Interactive mostly focuses on content for children, Buena Vista Games focused on other content, such as more mature titles, online games, and mobile games. As Buena Vista Games, the studio would go on to create Spectrobes. In 2005, they would acquire Avalanche Games and Climax Racing in 2006, and founded Propaganda Games in 2005 and Fall Line Studio in 2006.
In 2007, The Walt Disney Company changed the name of the studio to Disney Interactive Studios. During this time, the studio would acquire Junction Point Studios in July 2007.
Disney Interactive Studios lost over $200 million each year between 2008 and 2012, and during that period many of the game development studios acquired by the company were shut down. In May 2016, Avalanche Games was closed alongside the discontinuation of Disney Infinity, and Disney Interactive ended all self-publishing in favor of assisting third-parties in developing games based on Disney's properties, closing Disney Interactive Studios.