Disney Interactive held a live webcast Wednesday morning to announce an expansion to its popular video game, “Disney Infinity.”
The event, which aired on the Disney Infinity YouTube channel, announced a sequel to last year’s Disney Infinity franchise. The upcoming game, referred to as “Disney Infinity: Marvel Super Heroes” or “Disney Infinity 2.0,” will be released this fall and will be structured around Marvel’s current cinematic universe. At launch, the game will be released with a starter pack (similar to the original Disney Infinity game last year), including the game itself, multiple Marvel characters and two power discs.
Six playable superheroes were announced Wednesday: Iron Man, Captain America, Thor, Hawkeye, Black Widow and the Incredible Hulk, all of whom starred in 2012’s Disney/Marvel blockbuster, “The Avengers.” Presenters mentioned that a dozen more characters for the game will be announced at a later date.
While the generally family-friendly “Disney Infinity” received an ESRB rating of E10+ for “cartoon violence,” based on the nature of films like “The Avengers,” parents should anticipate that the upcoming focus on superheroes will be a bit more violence-oriented than previous “Infinity” alumni like Mike and Sulley from “Monsters University.”
Executive producer John Vignocchi detailed several improvements that have been made for the Marvel Super Heroes expansion, including improved modes for structured play, expanded four-player gameplay and easier creation tools for beginners and young players.
When it launches this fall, “Disney Infinity: Marvel Super Heroes” will be available on all gaming platforms for which the franchise currently operates (PlayStation 3, Wii, Wii U, Xbox 360, iOS and PC) and will also run on next-gen consoles (PlayStation 4 and Xbox One) for the first time.
Though no prices were discussed during Wednesday’s presentation, gamers (and their parents) can expect the new game and separately sold characters to come at a price. Retail values for current Disney Infinity products range from a standard $12.99 for characters to $74.99 for the starter pack, which includes the game, necessary peripherals and three Disney characters to play with. Other play sets with characters from movies like "Cars," "The Lone Ranger" and "Frozen" generally cost an extra $34.99.
The good news is that all accessories that were purchased for the original "Disney Infinity" game will be completely cross-compatible with the Marvel expansion, including any previously saved toy boxes and all progress made with individual characters.
Jimmy Pitaro, president of Disney Interactive, reported that “Disney Infinity” has sold over 3 million starter packs and grossed over $500 million in global sales since its launch in August 2013.
Pitaro also announced the company will continue to release free user-generated content on a weekly basis through its “Toy Box Share” campaign. Pitaro said that 10 million of the free levels have been downloaded, to date.
Additionally, Pitaro announced that one gamer who has fared particularly well in Disney Infinity’s weekly creation contests has been hired to work with the Disney Infinity development team in Salt Lake City.
For all upcoming announcements and up-to-the-minute news, follow @DisneyInfinity on Twitter or on Facebook at facebook.com/DisneyInfinity.
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