Disney: The Size of Studio Doesn't Matter If You’ve Got Passion
Disney talked about working with indie studios and the importance of passion.
Disney may not be making its own games now, but it's still involved in game development in form of granting licenses to use its brand. At D23 Expo in September, the company announced two new games from indie developers – Bithell Games and Dlala. The first is creating a new Tron project, while Dlala is making a Mickey Mouse game.
Seems like Disney has high hopes for indie studios: Sean Shoptaw, senior vice president at Walt Disney Games, told Gamesindustry.biz that no IP is off limits to indies and explained what the company wants to see from them.
“There's a lot of really talented indies,” Shoptaw said. “And if we just narrow our focus to the bigger shops, we'd be missing great opportunities to work with a lot of really talented creatives. For us, the passion that folks have, regardless of the size of their studio, is the most important element to making a great product. ... The size of studio just really doesn't matter if you’ve got that passion and creative excellence.”
Shoptaw describes Disney as an open company that would listen to any creative ideas from passionate developers. "We want to really empower and provide that white space for the best people in this industry to create and tell those original stories that is their vision," he said.
He uses the word "passion" a lot when talking about studios making games. Indie companies should definitely have it if they'd like to interest Disney, along with the ability to "land the plane."
"Our stories and worlds are the most precious asset we have, and we want to make sure that anybody we partner with has that ability to actually make the product. So that's number two behind passion. We really want to make sure that there is the expertise in-house to really execute and bring a title to life, with the scale and quality that we want."
Right now, the company is feeling "really good" about where it is today, but it is just the beginning: Disney has a roadmap of games coming over the next three or four years. “We're going to continue to push and we're going to continue to try to do big things in this space across all platforms.”
Learn more from the article here and don't forget to join our Reddit page and our Telegram channel, follow us on Instagram and Twitter, where we share breakdowns, the latest news, awesome artworks, and more.
