Disney has outlined just how powerful and important video games are to the company’s future. In a blog post ahead of D23–where Kingdom Hearts news is expected–the company’s gaming boss, Sean Shoptaw, revealed that games are now a “fundamental part of the broader entertainment landscape.”
He said Disney has reaped the rewards, with nine of its gaming franchises grossing more than $1 billion at retail so far. “So, it’s about telling truly original stories that really are unique to this medium, specifically,” he said.
Some of these include Kingdom Hearts and Marvel Strike Force. Shoptaw added that more than half of the nine franchises have only appeared in the past 12 years. Disney runs multiple game outfits, including Disney Pixar Games, Marvel Games, Lucasfilm Games, and 20th Century Games, just to name a few, all of which live under the broader Disney Games banner.
Disney Games has reached about $3.5 billion in consumer spend annually for the past four years, exceeding $4 billion in the past fiscal year alone. Shoptaw said this helps hammer home how gaming will be a “key part of Disney’s storytelling strategy in the present and the future.”
He added that Disney isn’t necessarily all that interested in doing things like movie tie-ins, which were popular in the ’90s and early 2000s. Instead, he said Disney wants to create original games that tell new stories, with Shoptaw citing Marvel’s Wolverine as a prime example.
One of Disney’s biggest bets in gaming in recent years has been through its partnership with Epic Games and Fortnite. Disney has invested more than $1.5 billion into Epic Games, and Shoptaw said its partnership is a “really important one.”
“Our partnership with Epic is a really important one,” Shoptaw said. “What Epic has built with Fortnite has really created one of the most important social entertainment platforms in the world, and certainly for us, we see a ton of opportunity to bring our great characters, stories, and worlds into that universe and build something truly unique to Disney.”
“Our ambition is to create something truly transformational. A space that people can come play, watch, and create, and a space that we bring all of Disney together in one connected universe.”
Disney has brought many of its franchises to Fortnite already, and its Simpsons collaboration was particularly successful. Looking ahead, Disney is planning even more in Fortnite, reportedly including an Arc Raiders-style game.
Disney’s new CEO, Josh D’Amaro, is a big believer in games and has suggested gaming could be Disney’s next big growth-driver, after the company’s stock price has been flat over the past decade. Some have theorized that Disney could buy Epic and Fortnite to help grow the business, but nothing has materialized as of yet.
Disney was, at one point in history, a developer of games itself with its Disney Interactive Studios label. This unit of the entertainment giant produced a number of games over the years, including the Disney Infinity “toys-to-life” series. However, Disney shuttered Disney Interactive Studios and now focuses more on licensing. Former CEO Bob Iger spoke candidly about Disney’s struggles making and publishing games internally, admitting, “We haven’t been particularly good…”