“I felt a great disturbance in the Force, as if millions of voices suddenly cried out in terror and were suddenly silenced.”
The classic line from Obi-Wan “Ben” Kenobi from Star Wars, couldn’t be more fitting with recent news from the House of Mouse. Disney officially announced it was “axing” it’s — what many people perceived as very popular — Infinity video game series, citing high development costs and lack of growth. The “toys-to-life” market, which was kickstarted by Activision and their Skylanders brand, was explosive for the past 3-4 years. I, like many parents, were dragged to Target, Best Buy and told to go online to Amazon by our kids to see what new characters had been released, what exclusives where available and what was coming next.
When it came to Skylanders, I always felt like I was buying, well, crap. The figures were cheaply made, horribly painted and just felt like a cash money grab. However, Disney’s Infinity toys, like everything Disney does, they were made extremely well. From the feel, which felt solid and well put together, to the design or “style” of the character, which had an animated or almost Blizzard (games) look and feel. I thought Disney did such a great job, that I told my son, when he’s done with this game or out grows it, I’m taking a few of these figures and displaying them on my desk at work, especially ones like the Hulk, Darth Vader, Darth Maul and few others. They are just really cool looking — and I’m also a big kid, stuck in the body of a 36-year old.
So all that being said, you can imagine how shocking it was when Disney announced that it was shuttering that business. Even more so when just a few weeks (or months) ago, they announced that later this year, instead of releasing a new Infinity 4.0 game, they were going to focus more on characters and new play sets, which could be added to the 3.0 game, via content updates on your video game consoles online system. Instead, Disney is getting out of the self publishing arena altogether. They are closing up shop and getting rid of Avalanche Studios, the Utah-based development house who made the Infinity games and are instead going the route of licensing their properties to other studios, for example, EA (Electronic Arts, makers of Madden, Need for Speed and TONS of other games). EA, already has success with this model, as they are responsible for last year’s super popular Star Wars: Battlefront game — and also announced Battlefront 2 for 2017– Knights of the Old Republic and several other games currently in development. This certainly makes sense from a business perspective, but what about the kids and legions of fans who loved this series? I mean, I can’t overstate how popular I thought these toys/games were, because every time I’d go to the store, be it Target or Best Buy, to get my son the newest character, they were sold out, for weeks.
Disney Infinity was more to my son than just a fun video game that had cool figures. He loved to actually build his own worlds in the Toy Box game mode, with set pieces from some of his favorite movies, like Star Wars, The Avengers, Spider-Man, Guardians of the Galaxy, Toy Story and a ton more. Sure, he can continue to play the game he has, but the idea that there will be no new content, with the exception of new (and the last) play sets due in June from the movies Alice: Through the Looking Glass and Finding Dory, is deeply depressing for him. I never really knew how much this game meant to him, I mean I knew he loved the characters, but he also loved running into the kitchen to get my attention by telling me to come look, only to bring me into the living room to show me how he rebuilt Jabba’s Palace in the Toy Box. What’s worse, is that I’ve basically lost future memories of buying these toys with him and getting home and playing it with him side-by-side. This was a game I knew I could play with him, but also get up and leave and know that he was in good hands, as the game would never become too violent, obscene or overly complicated. It truly was a family-friendly game.
It stings a little to know that when this news was announced, one of the fans, a loyal Infinity game player who’s screams of protest were silenced, were that of my son.
RIP Disney Infinity, you were taken from us too soon.
Anyone else play this game with their kids? If so, I dread you having to tell them that there’s no more content coming, unless they’re big Alice or Dory fans. Sadly, we won’t be seeing any future Star Wars, Guardians of the Galaxy 2 or even one that I was anticipating, a future Indiana Jones set. If this affects you, let us know below in the comments, I’d love to hear you stories about your kids playing or heck, even you? I know several adults who actually play this game when their kids go to bed. If that’s you, fess up, tell us.