Epic Mickey Dev Hit With Layoffs

[Logan Westbrook]

Epic Mickey Dev Hit With Layoffs

The Junction Point losses are supposedly just the tip of the iceberg, with hundreds of Disney jobs rumored to be in jeopardy.

Junction Point Studios, the developer behind the recent Wii exclusive Disney's Epic Mickey [http://www.amazon.com/Disney-Epic-Mickey-Nintendo-Wii/dp/B002I0GEXM/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1295953471&sr=8-1], has had to lose a few people, as parent company Disney restructures its interactive media division. This comes just days after Disney announced [http://www.escapistmagazine.com/news/view/107098-Disney-Closes-Propaganda-Games] the closure of Tron: Evolution [http://www.amazon.com/TRON-Evolution-Playstation-3/dp/B0030MQPQ8/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1295953478&sr=8-1] developer, Propaganda Games.

It's unknown exactly how many people have lost their job, although Disney says the effects on Junction Point are relatively small. It's been confirmed that the studio isn't about to be closed, and its most high-profile employee, founder and Deus Ex creator Warren Spector, is still there. A Junction Point spokesperson declined to give an official comment, however, saying that she had been "affected" by the restructuring. Sources also suggest that Disney Interactive Studios has suffered heavy losses, with as many as half of its 700 staff affected.

As sad as it is, it's not uncommon for a studio to lose a few people after a project wraps up, and "restructuring" or "realigning of resources" is often cited as the reason. But it sounds like the changes that Disney - or at least its interactive media division - is going through are much more significant then just gearing down after shipping a game. Disney CEO, Bob Iger, has said [http://www.escapistmagazine.com/news/view/105245-Disney-Closing-the-Money-Bin-for-Console-Development] in the past that there isn't the money in console development that there used to be, and that Disney would be reducing the amount it spent on big console releases, as well as diversifying into other areas. It seems pretty likely that the layoffs, not to mention the closure of Propaganda, are all tied into that plan.

Source: Gamasutra [http://www.gamasutra.com/view/news/32616/Report_Disney_Interactive_Sees_Significant_Layoffs.php?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed:+GamasutraNews+(Gamasutra+News)]


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[SL33TBL1ND]

Yeah, I think we all saw this coming.

 

[SUPA FRANKY]

Yeah, I think we all saw this coming.

Yea, preety much. Its a shame though, since that means that many more people are out of a job.

 

[More Fun To Compute]

Yeah, console gaming is dying. Outside of a few landmark titles that many people pick up there just isn't that much excitement about it any more, especially for new titles.

 

[Fr]anc[is]

There is plenty of money in consoles, when you don't make shit and cheap movie tie-ins

 

[Tom Phoenix]

Epic Mickey itself was a commercial hit over the holidays (1.3 million copies sold in its first month in North America), but I guess it wasn't enough of a hit to convince Disney that console development is still worth it in the long run.

Oh well, hopefully, Spector will still have the opportunity to develop that Duck Tales game he wanted to make. Disney could develop it for the 3DS, since portable systems are enormous right now and Specter already expressed interest to develop for the handheld. Plus, such a title would have great potential in the Japanese market, where portable systems have become the primary gaming platforms and where Disney characters enjoy a lot of popularity.

 

[NickCaligo42]

Pfft. There's plenty of money in consoles if you make games that don't suck. Disney barely invested anything into the games it was working on to begin with. And what about Kingdom Hearts? You know, that franchise that they're developing alongside Square that's sold over four million copies per each of the two main games in the series? Those are good-ass numbers for any game, let alone such a batshit insane concept that shouldn't be marketable.

This is what hurts. We can see the potential in Disney's properties, but apparently they can't.

 

[brunothepig]

The Junction Point loses are supposedly just the tip of the iceberg, with hundreds of Disney jobs rumored to be in jeopardy.

You mean losses?
OT: As people have said, what are they complaining about? Epic Mickey sold well, and it's still early days. Kingdom Hearts sold extremely well... And they're quite good games. Anyway, it's disheartening to hear of so many people losing their jobs.
Plus, what do they mean there's no money in console development? Isn't general consensus that consoles are better to develop for? The industry is only getting bigger...

 

[vrbtny]

Shall we blame the rampant piracy problems on the wii?

Or shall we let one pass for once?

 

[DTWolfwood]

Its a crying shame that when the boss fucks up the underlings get punished

 

[the_pleasure_is_mine]

Yeah, console gaming is dying. Outside of a few landmark titles that many people pick up there just isn't that much excitement about it any more, especially for new titles.

Whut?

Console gaming has grown massively and continues to grow...

I blame this more on Epic Mickey being a Wii exclusive.
Though its 1.3 million sales in the first month show there was definitely a good amount of interest.

 

[More Fun To Compute]

Yeah, console gaming is dying. Outside of a few landmark titles that many people pick up there just isn't that much excitement about it any more, especially for new titles.

Whut?

Console gaming has grown massively and continues to grow...

I blame this more on Epic Mickey being a Wii exclusive.
Though its 1.3 million sales in the first month show there was definitely a good amount of interest.

You could maybe have gotten away with saying that 3 years ago but even then so much of the sales and excitement on console was due to people spending so much making games that they were making a loss or just about breaking even.

 

[Ritalynn]

anc[is]There is plenty of money in consoles, when you don't make shit and cheap movie tie-ins

This is true, when was the last videogame based on a movie fun? My vote is Lion King, I LOVE that game.

 

[AzrealMaximillion]

Yeah, console gaming is dying. Outside of a few landmark titles that many people pick up there just isn't that much excitement about it any more, especially for new titles.

Whut?

Console gaming has grown massively and continues to grow...

I blame this more on Epic Mickey being a Wii exclusive.
Though its 1.3 million sales in the first month show there was definitely a good amount of interest.

You could maybe have gotten away with saying that 3 years ago but even then so much of the sales and excitement on console was due to people spending so much making games that they were making a loss or just about breaking even.

Selling 1.3 million for an exclusive game is making a profit, you realize that right? If it were multiplatform and only sold 1.3 million that would still be breaking even. Seriously what cave are you in?

 

[erbkaiser]

anc[is]There is plenty of money in consoles, when you don't make shit and cheap movie tie-ins

This is true, when was the last videogame based on a movie fun? My vote is Lion King, I LOVE that game.

The Chronicles of Riddick - Escape from Butcher Bay (and its current gen remake/sequel Dark Athena). Arguably better than the movie it was released alongside with.

---

More on topic, this game sold badly because it is on the Wii. Only Nintendo games sell okay on the Wii, so this really was a stupid idea. It should at least have also been released on PS3 and Xbox... and PC.

 

[Scarecrow]

Yeah, console gaming is dying. Outside of a few landmark titles that many people pick up there just isn't that much excitement about it any more, especially for new titles.

Flame war counting down in 10..9..8..

 

[Scarecrow]

anc[is]There is plenty of money in consoles, when you don't make shit and cheap movie tie-ins

This is true, when was the last videogame based on a movie fun? My vote is Lion King, I LOVE that game.

'heavy breathing'...Is it someone new....?

 

[viranimus]

Personally, I hate to see these devs out of work, but Im more than happy to see any studio that affiliates with Disney shutting down. Perhaps they will give up on making games all together. Such a sweet dream for me personally.

And on the job losses. yes its distressing, but this gives those devs an opportunity to be picked up by a solid organization and might even be better off for it. Good luck guys.