At present, traditional entertainment giants are making great efforts in the direction of mobile games. In this situation, Disney's strategic gathering is more eye-catching. Its layout for the future reveals the deep internal logic of industry transformation.
Background to the strategic buildup
Recently in Burbank, California, Disney brought together its five major business departments in a rare way. The core topic discussed was precisely the future development direction of the mobile field. James Parrott, who is responsible for related matters in the interactive department, made a very clear statement at the scene. The success of a series of mobile-related game products is the key to the turning point in the company's performance. Such a move indicates that the huge empire famous for its film, television and amusement parks has regarded the mobile platform as a critical and extremely important engine that can drive growth.
Disney, which has been involved in the gaming industry as early as the 1980s, has made a dramatic turnaround with its mobile games. In the past, it has suffered continuous setbacks in console and PC games, which is in stark contrast to its current smooth sailing on mobile screens. The lightweight and high penetration of mobile games have found a new and dynamic outlet for Disney's classic IP.
Keys to Mobile Gaming Success
There are two games, one is called "Line: Disney Fun" and the other is called "Frozen: Ice Fun". They have achieved phenomenal success. The former relied on the social platform Line's huge user base of more than 500 million to quickly make those round cartoon characters popular in Asia. Such promotion based on the existing social ecosystem has greatly reduced user acquisition costs.
Data shows that the number of daily active users of the mobile version of "Disney Consumer Watch" far exceeds that of all other platform versions, and its cumulative sales have exceeded 3 million copies. It is precisely these tangible incomes that have helped Disney's interactive department, which has been in a loss-making state for a long time, achieve a turnaround situation. The cash flow generated by mobile games provides a rock-solid foundation for the company's subsequent strategic investment.
Historical attempts and setbacks
Disney's journey into the game field is actually quite early, but its road ahead is full of twists and turns. The company originally hoped that the game adapted from "Fantasia" would become a classic. However, the actual product was ignored by the market because of its simple and crude gameplay and lack of fun. This failure reflected the shortcomings of early Disney's professional capabilities in game design.
In the following years, the company changed its direction and cooperated with mature external developers, launching licensed games at a rate of at least one per year. Although this third-party cooperation method is stable, it has gradually caused Disney to deviate from the key core of game development and play more of a publishing role. The company's game business has not been able to achieve a market position commensurate with its brand influence for a long time.
Unique cooperative development model
Disney, unlike other traditional game companies, rarely moves console games to mobile platforms so easily. This may be to avoid complex copyright agreement issues, but also because it believes that mobile games should have an independent form. Therefore, Disney has explored a unique IP licensing cooperation path.
For example, "Temple Run: Land of Oz" and "Mickey's Little Naughty Man" are typical examples. Disney has embedded its own characters and worldview into a gameplay framework that is already successful on the market. For cooperative developers, Disney IP can quickly gain users' attention; for Disney, it achieves the extension of IP value with relatively low risk.
Current market position and outlook
James Parrott announced that Disney Interactive has rapidly grown into the sixth largest mobile game publisher in the world. It is facing a huge market with a scale of more than 26 billion US dollars and is still expanding. This result confirms that its transformation strategy has initially achieved results.
According to the experience feedback from the on-site media, some newly displayed games, such as those that have added multiplayer modes, are presented on the mobile terminal in a state close to the quality of the console version. Some people call it the "Disney version of "Minecraft"". This means that Disney is trying to provide a more in-depth experience on the mobile terminal, not just limited to casual games.
Core challenges for future development
The future challenge facing Disney is how to continuously turn its extremely large IP library into game products with long-term vitality, rather than short-term popularity. The market for mobile games changes extremely quickly, and it is difficult for users to understand their preferences clearly. Continuous innovation is a very key factor in maintaining its own position.
At the same time, coordinating the resources of the five major internal departments and uniting them into a joint force rather than causing internal friction is also one of many representative management issues that need to be studied and solved. Disney must provide corresponding facts to prove that this high-profile strategic gathering operation can effectively transform into a sustainable business operation model, and it is not just a dazzling brand display event.
Do you think the biggest advantage of an entertainment company with strong IP like Disney in the field of mobile games is the appeal of the brand or the ecological capabilities demonstrated by cross-department collaboration? Welcome to share your views.
