Disney's Game Foray Could Dwarf Competition

Earlier this month, the company changed the name of its games division from Buena Vista Games to Disney Interactive Studio to better reflect the weight of the Disney content in its portfolio and "the enormous value consumers see in the Disney brand."

Spectrobes, as Disney Interactive's premiere original game title, will be a big test to see if the division got the recipe right. The game, in which players collect prehistoric creatures of the same name and then train them to do battle with an evil species, could spawn a television series or even a movie if users take a fancy to it. That would be another first for Disney, whose games have been based on existing movie or TV material.

"Launching our first new [intellectual property] will be a sign of our maturity," says Hopper.

Though completely new games are a risky proposition for Disney, Hopper says the Burbank, Calif., company wants to do more with its brand.

Disney says it will invest $130 million in game development this year, up from $100 million last year. In five to seven years, the company hopes to put in $300 million to $350 million. This year the unit will publish 20 titles compared with last year's 16.

Disney Interactive now has about 600 employees worldwide, an increase from the 120 it employed about three years ago. Revenue for fiscal 2006 was approximately $500 million, compared with about $370 million the year before.

Shares of Disney closed Friday's session cents at $35.14. The stock has been up 7% in the three months since Nov. 24 and jumped 27% in a year.