Disney's Game Foray Could Dwarf Competition

Traditional video-game publishers had better watch out. Media giant Disney (DIS Quote) is pumping up its game muscles.

The company, which continues to invest in its game division by adding creative talent and building new studios, is set to release its first original game title for the Nintendo (NTDOY Quote) DS console next month.

The release of Spectrobes underscores Disney's heightened ambitions in the game business. The entertainment conglomerate, content in the past to license its best properties to other video-game publishers, now wants to own more of the market.

Disney's moves could be bad news for traditional video-game publishers, especially THQ(THQI Quote), which has seen some of its biggest hits come from Disney licenses.

THQ's Cars game, co-published with Buena Vista Games and based on the Disney/Pear hit movie of the same name, drove video-game sales for the holiday quarter, shipping more than 7 million units.

If Spectrobes is a hit, it could mark a new and pivotal direction for the division that has so far piggybacked on the content and characters developed by Disney's movie and TV studios.

"Our value to the company is not just financial but also strategic," says Graham Hopper, senior vice president and general manager of Disney Interactive Studios. "We help extend the value of the company much more deeply because when someone plays the game, it deepens their connection to the property."