For all the kitsch and fun-filled goodness that Disney Infinity represents, Disney Interactive has invested some serious scratch into the same. According to a report by The Wall Street Journal, total development costs are more than $100 million, with one source that recently left the studio stating that it was a, “Hail Mary [play] with a tremendous amount of pressure to be a hit.”
That’s not including marketing costs though, so expect Disney to invest even more into the project. Apparently, the developer bypassed developing an Iron Man game and Star Wars titles for Disney Infinity. If the latter fails, then look for the developer to re-assess its priorities and focus purely on in-house mobile apps and online games, licensing bigger games to other developers (as has been seen with EA).
Disney Infinity will be releasing on PC, PS3, Wii, Xbox 360, 3DS and Wii U in North America on August 18th and in Europe on August 23rd.