Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment rescued shuttered Disney Infinity creator Avalanche Software, and the reopened studio is now working on a video game adaptation of the upcoming Disney-Pixar animated film Cars 3.
Warner Bros. has also acquired the rights to Avalanche’s Octane engine technology, which powered multiple games in the Disney Infinity series. The engine purchase effectively allows Avalanche to resume its work unhindered by last year’s studio shutdown.
The once-popular Disney Infinity series targeted the “toys-to-life” market with a series of games that allows players to summon and control in-game characters by placing collectible figures on top of an NFC-reading device. Multiple figures and vehicles inspired by Disney films and media properties were released in the years that followed and Disney Infinity sequels featuring Marvel Universe and Star Wars characters premiered in 2014 and 2015 across multiple console platforms.
As the toys-to-life market hit a low point in 2016 due to declining sales, Disney announced the end of its Disney Infinity series and the closure of subsidiary studio Avalanche Software. As of this week, Avalanche Software has resumed its development duties after a Warner Bros. buyout, with studio co-founder John Blackburn returning as CEO.
“It is a tremendous pleasure to welcome Avalanche Software into our development stable,” Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment president David Haddad said in a statement, “and we look forward to working with our new team, Pixar Animation Studios, and [Disney Consumer Products and Interactive Media] to create Cars 3 based on the upcoming film and hugely popular franchise.”
Haddad continued: “The Avalanche talent and technology are a great addition to our group of outstanding developers, and we are excited for this Cars 3 game as well as all of the future games the team will create under John’s leadership.”
