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What Kind Of Licensed Disney Games Could We See Now That Infinity Is Officially Over?

Here are 5 games that could revitalize Disney Interactive through new gaming partnerships.

By Matthew BaileyPublished 6 years ago 7 min read
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Even though many developers have moved on to new studios and new projects after Disney Infinity was officially cancelled on May 10th this year, it doesn't negate the fact that Walt Disney has been in the business of video games for nearly 30 years and are constantly looking toward their future and all potential games. The cancellation of Disney Infinity was, needless to say, a shock to fans of Disney Interactive and their multiple projects. As the publishing and development branch of the beloved House of Mouse Disney Interactive had designed Disney Infinity to be a truly unique sandbox style game that allowed players to become nearly every Disney character imaginable from: Lightning McQueen to Mr. Incredible, Captain Jack Sparrow to Captain America, Stitch to Anakin Skywalker and oh so many more. Disney Infinity looked to carry the model of toys-to-life to heart, and in less than six months the game had three million starter packs sold. It looked destined for magnificent things, but then all future plans were cancelled.

It’s still fairly unclear as to exactly what brought on the sudden change for Disney, but it definitely isn’t the first time that the studio had changed directions so suddenly. Over its history in the gaming world, Disney’s game division has undergone countless shifts as they tried to match the ebb and flow of the industry, each time in an attempt to bring the magic of Disney into the gaming world. Disney Infinity was supposed to be the proverbial golden game for Disney Interactive, yet with its cancellation we were all left wondering how Disney could recover from this massive shift from building games in-house to focusing on partnerships with other developers.

Regardless of how Disney shifts their focus in the gaming world, we can all probably agree that Disney has some of the most memorable characters in the known universe. With how massive their character collection is (Marvel, Pirates of the Caribbean, Pixar and Lucasfilm) it’s easy to imagine the possibilities in terms of gaming. Here are 5 games that could revitalize Disney Interactive through new gaming partnerships.

5. Square Enix - 'Kingdom Hearts III'

Kingdom Hearts has been a game that has garnered countless legions of fans across the world, and we’ve been anxiously waiting for the third game to arrive since concepts started showing up 10 years ago. Although it was announced at E3 2013, we haven’t really been given much to go on. Yet it’s still an incredible game that brings in countless classic characters (Donald Duck, King Mickey, Rapunzel and more) as well as use worlds built upon the classic themes from Disney folklore.

We already know what Kingdom Hearts is all about, and hopefully we will see Kingdom Hearts III expand on it and give us a grandiose adventure into the heart and depth of Disney.

4. Telltale - 'Marvel's: The Defenders'

This was a rumored game a few years ago, but I think after the success that Telltale had in developing their narrative-based games of The Walking Dead, Wolf Among Us, Tales From the Borderlands and most recently Batman – they’ve proven their ability to take on major characters. Telltale could do marvelous things with a Marvel story, perhaps taking a route that tells the stories of The Defenders (Luke Cage, Iron Fist, Daredevil and Jessica Jones). It’s something that hasn’t been done yet, and it’s far enough removed from the Netflix universe that it could be done in a comical way as most of the Telltale games utilize. A Telltale Marvel game could create episodes that allowed you to dig deeper and farther into each of the 4 characters story and depending on your choices, the other character’s story would be impacted.

Allowing Telltale to craft a Marvel story would bring in some variety to the collection of heroic games, and could allow Marvel to step into other gaming ventures seeing as their games have been lackluster in general, especially when you compare it to DC games like Injustice: Gods Among Us and the Batman: Arkham series. Although the Telltale game would focus on a narrative game versus the gritty action of the DC games, it would be a great step for Disney.

3. Ubisoft - 'Star Wars Galaxy'

Now this could be a long shot, considering the Electronic Arts has their sights firmly on expanding the Star Wars universe, but just imagine a large-scale open world environment like Assassin’s Creed or Watch_Dogs but filled with the uncharted reaches of the galactic space opera we know as Star Wars. There have been a few games that dabbled in the epicness of the Star Wars universe, but nothing has really broached what a studio like Ubisoft could achieve if they stretched their gaming model onto this IP. Ubisoft has a knack for creating a far expansive and broad story which is exactly what a Star Wars story needs to utilize.

We’ve already seen the story of Anakin’s secret padawan in Star Wars: The Force Unleashed, but imagine you’re a bounty hunter rather than a force-wielding Jedi. If Ubisoft could take over the cancelled production of Star Wars 1313, I would be in heaven. As your playable character would progress through the story they would gain new skills and be able to modify their weaponry and ship layout, design and what-not. Taking an approach like this could be a breath of fresh air to the franchise.

2. BioWare - 'Fantasy Princes and Princesses'

So we all know the princesses of Disney animation are pretty much incredible. We have everything from the kickass fighter with Mulan to the epicurial chef of Tiana and everything in between. If Bioware were to get their hands on the rights to characters like Mulan, Rapunzal, Merida, Aurora, Ariel, Elsa/Anna, Megara as well as some of the leading men like Beast, John Smith, Flynn Rider, Li Shang and Kristoff. If you were to place them in a fabled land and through exploring and questing, you could add them to your team just as you do in Dragon Age – you’ve have a pretty incredible RPG leading up to some major conflict like Maleficent attempting to take over the entire kingdom or something along that line or possibly all the evil queens form a pact, and to save the fabled world you must collect the princes and princesses to combat each queen.

I’m not quite sure how combat would work as it’s not really an element of the original characters, but I’d imagine that a studio like Bioware could do some pretty incredible things with how varied the characters are: Mulan being strictly a warrior, Rapunzal could use her hair as a whip, Elsa would obviously be a mystic class, Megara could be a tactician/thief the classes could be built from there. But this would allow for a great deal.

1. Crystal Dynamics - 'Big Hero 6'

Crystal Dynamics is best known for their work with the Tomb Raider series, and most recently Rise of the Tomb Raider. Now bear with me for a second, Big Hero 6 (the movie) is a far cry from the ambiance we find with Lara Croft, and that’s why I think it’s so perfect. Big Hero 6 is loosely based on a collection of comics written by Marvel. I think that taking the movie version and adapting it to the Tomb Raider model would be easy to follow. Starting off as Hiro, you would scour the city with your robot friend Baymax looking for clues and possible upgrades. Along the way you team up with your other friends to solve puzzles and challenges.

Tomb Raider relies on the players ability to solve puzzles, and that was in essence what Hiro, GoGo, Honey Lemon, Wasabi and Fred did as they uncovered the truth about what happened to Professor Callahan and his daughter. I could see a much larger story utilized as the team faces off against a new more devious villain, all the while searching for clues about what Hiro’s brother was truly doing before the fire that was believed to have taken his life.

I still remember vividly watching all the Disney movies growing up. There was just something magical about the idea that all of these stories were so beautifully created. Watching Buzz and Woody navigate the real world in an attempt to return to Andy made, seeing Mulan fight for her right to stand her ground and protect her family and so many other incredible stories just make me believe that Disney has the potential to have countless incredible games developed. All they need is to find the right magic again, but what do you think?

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About the Creator

Matthew Bailey

Husband. Father. Gamer. Cinema Lover. Mix it all together, and there I am. I love all things pop-culture and coffee; but coffee is the best.

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