Today Disney announced they are renaming Climax Racing, Black Rock Studios. The renaming was inevitable since the studio is no longer owned by Climax. But does anyone else see the bigger picture? Black Rock is the name of the ship in Lost, right? Maybe their video games hold the secret of the island. Maybe the Others are actually just eccentric video game producers that like their solitude. This can't be a coincidence.
But speaking of video games, at the recent New York licensing show, Disney Consumer Products reiterated their commitment to making 90 percent of the product Disney branded. Where does Black Rock fall? Will the racing games be Disney branded or will they be part of the other 10 percent. Or maybe a combination of both? Disney Consumer Products wants to create new intellectual property for the company while still living off of the Disney Channel and Disney characters. While W.I.T.C.H., their first attempt to do so, fell a little flat, the group is still trying. Spectrobes, a Nintendo DS video game, is a solid hit. Will Disney try to create new franchises using video games? It is not unheard of. Pokemon became a worldwide sensation and Disney is making a tentpole picture based off of another company's video game, Prince of Persia. Andy would be thrilled if someday there is a movie based off of one of his video game's.
He would love Disney Interactive Studios to become the golden child like Disney Channel has. Disney Channel created its own intellectual property, that while still Disney branded, introduced new Disney characters and franchises. Instead of Disney Channel relying on the studios and theme parks to create content for them, they ended up paying them back with new content that the studios(The Lizzie Movie) and theme parks(High School Musical Pep Rally) can use. Maybe Disney Interactive Studios will have its breakout hit that will alllow it to show how it can create its own content, and maybe Black Rock will be the studio to do it, but until then don't expect Disney to stop making Pirates of the Carribean and Hannah Montana games.