Yesterday Disney Interactive announced that it has closed Junction Point studios, the developer of both Epic Mickey and Epic Mickey 2: The Power of Two. The studio was founded in 2005 by Warren Spector, a well-known veteran of the industry who headed up such titles as Deus Ex and Thief in the past. Disney bought the studio in 2007 to begin work on a platformer that was to become Epic Mickey.
The first Epic Mickey released in 2010 exclusively on the Wii console and sold 1.3 million units within the first month. Power of 2, which saw a much wider console release in addition to being a launch title for Wii U, fared much worse. Only 250k units were sold within the first month which many saw as putting the company in its death throes.
“It was with much sadness that we informed our teams today of changes to our Games organization, which include the closure of Junction Point Studios. These changes are part of our ongoing effort to address the fast-evolving gaming platforms and marketplace and to align resources against our key priorities. We’re extremely grateful to Warren Spector and the Junction Point team for their creative contributions to Disney with Disney Epic Mickey and Disney Epic Mickey 2.”
The closure of Junction Point studios is likely a part of Disney’s plan to restructure its entertainment divisions to be more profitable. It’s always sad to see a studio go, but this means great talent like that which Spector exudes is now available for other projects that aren’t so tightly controlled.
[via Ars Technica]
