Disney Interactive revenue climbs despite Disney Infinity cost increase

Revenue at Disney Interactive fell five per cent year-on-year to $384m during Q1 2015, although income climbed 36 per cent to $75m.

Unit sales of Disney Infinity catalogue titles and accessories were down, while production and marketing costs associated with the brand were both up. These numbers were partially offset by increased sales of Infinity Starter Packs, however.

Improved operating results were due to an increase at our mobile games business driven by the success of Tsum Tsum and Frozen Free Fall as well as lower product development costs due to fewer titles in development,” the company said.

Interactive was one of just two units to see an annual revenue decline, alongside Studio Entertainment. However, it did post the second highest income gain behind Consumer Products, although it managed just a fraction of the income managed by every other Disney unit. Media Networks, for instance, made 20 times as much and Parks and Resorts made over ten times as much.

The numbers pale in comparison to Disney’s overall business, however, where revenues jumped nine per cent to $13.4bn and income jumped 19 per cent to $2.2bn.

The big winner? Frozen. Sales of Frozen related toys and figures were the single biggest driver of Disney’s huge growth and the most successful toy line of 2014.

The film grossed nearly $1.3bn from the worldwide box office when it launched in November 2013, far exceeding Disney’s expectations. It has gone on to become the highest grossing animated film of all time and the fifth highest grossing film ever.