Disney Has Sold One Of Its Last Few Game Studios

FoxNext, a studio that Disney acquired after buying out Fox, has been sold off not long after being acquired by the House of Mouse. Back in September 2019, it was reported that Disney was looking to offload the studio, which is responsible for the mobile game Marvel Strike Force. This has now come to pass.

Variety is reporting that Disney has sold FoxNext to mobile developer Scopely, the team behind The Walking Dead: Road to Survival and WWE Champions. FoxNext is currently working on an Avatar mobile game, named Avatar: Pandora Rising.

Scopely's Tim O'Brien told Variety that they were "hugely impressed with the incredible game the team at FoxNext Games has built." Marvel Strike Force brought in over $150 million in revenue during its first year.

The sale includes Cold Iron Studios, which has been owned by FoxNext since 2018. Cold Iron Studios is working on a new shooter in the Alien universe, but Scopely plans to sell them off once the deal is closed, as they do not work on mobile titles. The studio consists of 50 people.

Disney has, in the past, moved away from publishing games, closing down studios like Epic Mickey developer Junction Point, Tron: Evolution team Propaganda Games, and Split/Second creators Black Rock. In 2016, Disney cancelled the Disney Infinity series and closed developer Avalanche Software, marking the end of their biggest gaming franchise.

Disney will continue to release mobile games based on its properties--in 2018, it signed a deal with developer Jam City, which has developed several games based on Disney and Pixar properties.