Disney confirmed on Wednesday it is shutting down its Vancouver-based studio Propaganda Games, which recently released the video game Tron: Evolution.
Disney reportedly said in an email statement to video game blog Joystiq that Propaganda had “completed all work associated with its most recent project."
Media reports suggested the closure was related to a shift in focus at Disney from console game development to mobile and causal games.
Propaganda ranked tenth, by employee count, on Business in Vancouver’s list of biggest video game companies in B.C.
Propaganda, which was launched by Disney in April 2005 as Revolution Interactive Entertainment, had an estimated 70 employees.
The Vancouver studio had reportedly laid off 100 staff last October after Disney scrapped plans to have the studio develop the role-playing game Pirates of the Caribbean: Armada of the Damned.
Propaganda’s first assignment in 2005 was Turok: Dinosaur Hunter.
The game, which reached store shelves in February 2008, was originally made for the Nintendo 64 game console and was based on a comic book character from the 1950s.
Propaganda was co-founded by Howard Donaldson, a former Electronic Arts Canada CFO, along with other ex-EA Canada employees.
Donaldson, who as head of Propaganda held the title of vice-president of Disney Interactive Games Studios Canada, told BIV this month video game developers in B.C. are increasingly competing with other jurisdictions, such as Quebec. (See “B.C. strategy aims to build a stronger screen presence” – issue 1106; January 4-10.)
“If we truly want to compete on a global level, I think we need to develop some stronger leadership in the digital media industry in B.C.,” said Donaldson. “We can’t coast along.”
Donaldson had positive things to say about Propaganda’s recent experience developing Tron.
Both the Tron movie and video game were developed in Vancouver, with local video game development shops, film producers and animators sharing scripts and working together.
“As we see more convergence and we see new technologies evolving, we need to provide training to keep our talent pool up to date,” said Donaldson.