Disney bets $100m on developing Infinity

Disney Infinity has reportedly spent over $100 million on it’s video game-toy line crossover Disney Infinity.

The figure, first reported by The Wall Street Journal, means the game will have to do very well commercially to break even; a particularly pressing matter considering Disney Interactive has lost some $1.41 billion since 2008. The division of the entertainment giant has also let go over 500 staff in that time, and closed four related game studios.

Disney Infinity adopts a similar model to Activision’s hugely successful Skylanders, offering its youthful target audience a sandbox game that can be bolstered and customised by scanning real-world toys with a special device, so as to introduce new characters into the game.

The $100 million figure apparently represents development budget and the cost of creating the related toys.

Disney has long struggled to match its success in film, television and children’s entertainment in the video games realm, although it has done well publishing occasional titles, such as the Creature Feep-developed mobile game Where’s My Water?, which spawned new Disney characters unrelated to a film or other IP.