Disney continues to cut more video game jobs

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Disney continues to cut more video game jobs

Postby Sheriff Woody » Thu Sep 15, 2016 7:32 am

following on from the closure of Disney Infinity, Disney cuts more video game jobs ...

LOS ANGELES — Disney cut 5 percent of its consumer products and digital media staff on Wednesday, or about 250 jobs, a spokesman said, the latest in a series of belt-tightening moves by the world’s largest entertainment conglomerate.

While small in a broad sense — Disney has more than 180,000 employees worldwide — pocket-size layoffs have been frequent at the company in recent months. In May, more than 300 workers lost their jobs when Disney pulled the plug on Infinity, a video game and toy line. In July, 30 people were let go by Maker Studios, a Disney-owned video business. Walt Disney Parks and Resorts has also made cuts, including a downsizing at its Imagineering research and development unit in early August, a move that the company said was tied to the completion of Shanghai Disneyland.

A portion of the new layoffs have hit video game workers, as Disney continues to shift its game approach to a licensing model and away from internal development, according to Brian Nelson, a Disney spokesman. A group of affected employees worked at a Bellevue, Wash., facility that supported the company’s Marvel: Avengers Alliance mobile and social network games. The games were shut down last week after a sequel failed to catch on, a relatively routine occurrence in this fast-changing corner of the industry.

Additional cuts were the result of streamlining at the Glendale, Calif., headquarters of Disney Consumer Products and Interactive Media. Disney combined the two businesses into a single operation last year, in part to save money by eliminating overlapping departments, including marketing and human resources.

After a period of blistering growth fueled by the “Frozen” and “Star Wars” franchises, Disney Consumer Products and Interactive Media has recently emerged as an area of concern for some analysts. A lavishly promoted line of interactive toys called Playmation was a sales disappointment last Christmas. Starting in the spring, the unit reported back-to-back quarterly declines in profitability, even as every other Disney division delivered improvements.

Disney Consumer Products and Interactive Media reported profit in the second quarter of $357 million, an 8 percent decline from the year-earlier period, something the company attributed to fading sales of “Frozen” merchandise and the unfavorable impact of foreign exchange rates. The unit’s third-quarter profit totaled $324 million, a 7 percent decline.

Disney’s fiscal year ends on Sept. 30.

Source: The New York Times
 
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Re: Disney continues to cut more video game jobs

Postby BionicKoalaBoy » Thu Sep 15, 2016 8:28 am

Even with Star wars under their belts, the UNPRECEDENTED and unpredictable success of Frozen was not going to be sustainable or replicated on a whim. There had to be a financial downturn when the lustre faded from that cash-cow.
 
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Re: Disney continues to cut more video game jobs

Postby Paradox » Thu Sep 15, 2016 11:53 am

Disney's 'image' has been declining for me and my family for a few years now and news like this (and of course how they announced and handled the Infinity shutdown) further reinforces that decline. Companies ultimately exist to make a profit and I understand that but Disney in the past still made a profit but provided a unique brand image and 'feel of magic' to its customers while making that profit. Now, that magic is near gone and I see them as just about any other greedy company out there. Shame really....
 
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Re: Disney continues to cut more video game jobs

Postby DizExplorer03 » Thu Sep 15, 2016 12:46 pm

It really is a shame. It now definitely shows that now they are more about wanting to earn money more than wanting to create some "magic" for their fans and families everywhere. What will eventually hurt the company in the future will be the kids will probably now grow up to think of Disney as a company that doesn't have its magic and see them as just another company competing to be at the top of entertainment. Disney needs to do something soon if they want to get their young audiences and loyal fans back.
 
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Re: Disney continues to cut more video game jobs

Postby rogpalmeruk » Thu Sep 15, 2016 4:10 pm

I think one of the issues is all of this "info" we get nowadays mean we have a company that doesn't meet expectations . Disney has been a ruthless corporation for a long time, it's just we never saw it. Disney have been cutting gaming studios for decades, it's just we never hear about it. We I was a kid, If some attraction closed in a park, we found out when we got to the park. And carried on to the next one looking for something else, we just didn't know and thus the magic was able to stay around .
 
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Re: Disney continues to cut more video game jobs

Postby BaronGrackle » Fri Sep 16, 2016 6:41 pm

I'm not surprised Playmation was a disappointment. It looked like Disney Infinity, but only with Marvel Avengers characters, and aimed at older kids?

The only reason I know it existed is because I've seen their figures nearby when looking for Infinities.
 
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Re: Disney continues to cut more video game jobs

Postby Tilarta » Sat Sep 17, 2016 10:02 am

I knew about the Avengers Alliance closing down, but I was not told it was because the sequel was poorly recieved.
Mind you, since the gameplay in number 2, well, handicapped you, I am not surprised it didn't perform as well.
When you have to Cookie Cutter to win in a mobile game, well, there you go.
And also, it had far less variety in terms of playable characters then number 1.
And they were harder to acquire, I spent most of that playtime just trying to unlock War Machine!

I wonder if long term, this will have an effect on consumers.
I'm fairly sure there are several children worldwide who are most likely annoyed that Disney Infinity is ending.
Children grow up and in time, may have children of their own.
And they might say, okay, Disney crushed my dreams as a child, I'm not going to introduce it to my children so their dreams can be crushed too.
And if the flowon effect continues, it might get to a point where you have generations of people who either don't know about Disney or despise the corporation for how they act.

I'm fairly certain any corporation depends on goodwill of it's customers, offend them enough and you have no profits because nobody is buying your stuff, going to your movies, etc.

I assume Moana is going to be a hit, because what I've seen so far looks like quality work.

But can they say that about everything?
I am fairly aware that Disney Channel has been suffering lately, the shows just aren't as good as they used to be.

If that continues, then it might be that the only thing anyone cares about really is that movie that comes out every 6 months or so.
And they are not even made by Disney, someone else did the work and they just distribute it to cinemas.
 
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Re: Disney continues to cut more video game jobs

Postby The Disney Dork » Sat Sep 17, 2016 5:24 pm

To be fair, Playmation WAS a huge failure. I've seen the figures on clearance for like a dollar or two at both Walmart and the Disney Store and they're still not moving off of the shelves.
 
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Re: Disney continues to cut more video game jobs

Postby Tilarta » Sat Sep 17, 2016 5:43 pm

I didn't recall what Playmation was, so I looked it up.
To me, it looks like it was just lazer tag with iPads and a plastic repulsor glove.
I didn't think that was too interesting, so let it pass.
Also, from memory, I think the starter kit was quite expensive, like 160 dollars or something.
That price might have put potential buyers off.

But I did notice they have a War Machine figure.
I might buy that just to have it, since he is one of my favorite characters.

But I don't recall seeing any of these things in my local stores.
I'll look again the next time I am there, but if they aren't in stock, I think it means they realised which way these items were headed and sent them back.
 
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