Smith 1

Weston Smith
Dr. Fiona Harris Ramsby
English 2010
16 July 2016
Why is Disney Ending Disney Infinity?
Disney Infinity is a very
successful franchise that was recently
canned by the Walt Disney Company.
As someone who loves and is very
experienced with video games, I
strongly feel that this is a huge mistake
to end Disney Infinity. The toys-to-life
genre of video games was recently
under huge growth and we saw a few
franchises enter the race. Lego
Dimensions, Amiibo from Nintendo and
the Skylanders franchise started by
Activison Blizzard. The thing is which
makes all the more baffling is that the
Disney Infinity franchise surpassed all
of these franchises in sales reports
COG. The Walt Disney Company had
unrealistic expectations for the profits
of the franchise and jumped ship, which means that our Salt Lake City based Avalanche Studios
(and presumptively also local studio Fall Line Studios) said a Disney representative to the Wrap.
The closure of Avalanche Studios is a major drop in Salt Lake Citys presence in the
gaming industry which in 2013 Utah Stories reported that the gaming industry added 112.7
million to Utahs economy. Not have the presence of Avalanche Studios will great affect how
much money comes to Utahs economy. Avalanche Studios employed roughly 300 people who
are now all looking for a new job. The Walt Disney Company could have done so many things
in order to make Disney Infinity profitable and continue the franchise and not lose so many jobs
here in Salt Lake City.
The Walt Disney Company has more iconic characters than just about any other company.
Just think of all of the animated movies that, more often than not, are mega successes at the box
office. Disney has released Cars, Frozen and Finding Nemo, to name a few, all of which were
extremely popular and have generated hundreds of millions (or in the case of Frozen, over a
billion) at the box office. Also with the recent purchase of Lucasfilm and Marvel they have over
10 of the top 25 highest grossing films according to MoJos list of highest grossing movies. The
characters that Amiibo, Skylanders and Lego Dimensions present doesnt even come close to the
popularity of the characters that the Disney Infinity franchise has access to. Based on this fact
that Disney Infinity has access to all of these popular characters, if the Walt Disney Company
would use this to their advantage they would crush the competition. In fact, in 2014 Variety

Smith 2
reported after generating
more than $500 million
from the sale of more
than 3 million starter
packs, priced at $75,
since Infinitys launch
nearly a year ago. COG
makes the point that after
one year this franchise
had surprised Disney so
much they couldnt keep
the toys on the shelves,
due to the popularity of
the intellectual properties
Disney Infinity has
access to. The Walt Disney Company made a huge mistake in closing Avalanche Studios and
ending Disney Infinity.
The Walt Disney
Company reported that they
had recently made a deal
with the giant video game
publisher Electronic Arts in
2013 to publish triple A
Star Wars games. The
partnership between Disney
and Electronic Arts has been
fruitful with the
VIDEOGAMER reporting
the first game in the deal
shipping 13 million units as
of January. The Walt Disney
Company and Electronic
Arts should extend this
partnership and include the Disney Infinity franchise, as well as, a buyout of Avalanche studios
and Fall Line Studios. Electronic Arts already has a Studio here in Salt Lake City (EA Salt Lake
City), it would make it easy for an Electronic Arts to make the leadership change. Electronic
Arts would also be better equipped to compete with the rival publisher Activision Blizzard and
their Skylanders franchise. This would be a win-win for not only for Disney and Electronic Arts
but for the State of Utah.
In conclusion, the Walt Disney Company should not end the Disney Infinity franchise. I
understand the patterns of the video game industry and can see that Disney Infinity can and is
extremely successful. If the Walt Disney Company extended their partnership with Electronic

Smith 3
Arts, it would make the most sense and continue Utahs growing presence in the video game
industry. The Walt Disney Company has no grounds to end the extremely popular Disney
Infinity franchise. With Disney Infinity being so new, given a little bit more time it could have
become the biggest franchise in the gaming industry. If you go to your local store that sells
Disney Infinity, you will see little boys and girls in many ages asking their parents to purchase
their favorite Disney character so they can play Disney Infinity. This is evidence of the poor
decision of the Walt Disney Company of ending the franchise. Therefore, The Walt Disney
Company should reconsider their options for the future of the franchise.

Smith 4
Works Cited
"All Time Worldwide Box Office Grosses." All Time Worldwide Box Office Grosses. N.p., n.d.
Web. 03 July 2016.
Advertisement for Disney Infinity. Digital image. Cog Connected. Cog, 14 May 2016. Web. 16
July 2016.
ASSOCIATED PRESS "Utah Offers Tax Rebates to Disney." KSL.com. KSL, 15 Feb. 2008.
Web. 03 July 2016.
CARLSON, AMY. "The Video Game Industry in Utah." Utah Stories. Utah Stories, 15 Jan.
2013. Web. 17 July 2016.
ELECTRONIC ARTS. Star Wars Battlefront Screen Shot. Digital image. Video Gamer. Video
Gamer, 29 Jan. 2016. Web. 16 July 2016.
GAIDA, MICHEAL. Mickey Mouse Statue Holding Phone. Digital image. Pixabay. Creative
Commons, Apr. 2016. Web. 16 July 2016.
GRASER, MARC. "Even Disney Is Surprised by the Success of Disney Infinity."Variety.
Variety, 24 July 2014. Web. 14 July 2016.
OWEN, PHEL. "Disney Shuts Down Console Video Game Publishing Arm, Cancels Disney
Infinity." The Wrap. The Wrap News, 10 May 2016. Web. 14 July 2016.
(The following citation comes from the SLCC database.)
RYAN, NAKASHIMA. "Disney Shutting Infinity Game Unit, Cutting 300 Jobs." Canadian
Press, (n.d.): Points of View Reference Center. Web. 16 July 2016.
SCAMMELL, DAVID. "Star Wars Battlefront Has Shipped 13 Million Units."
VideoGamer.Com. VIDEOGAMER, 29 Jan. 2016. Web. 03 July 2016.
(The following citation comes from the SLCC database.)
The Walt Disney, Company. "The Walt Disney Company and EA Announce Multi-Year Star
Wars Games Agreement." Business Wire (English) June 0005: Regional Business News.
Web. 17 July 2016.
ZARMENA, KHAN. "Disney Infinity: How Unrealistic Expectations Killed a Successful
Franchise." COG. Cogconnected, 14 May 2016. Web. 13 July 2016.