We think that's what's on Disney's mind.
We've been wondering for a while whether or not Disney Infinity – the company's rumored upcoming expected video game changer – was real.
Our question was answered yesterday when we were sent an invitation to an event for Infinity.
(If you want to get a full look at the moving invitation, Joystiq has a cool gif of the invitation in action.)
From the press invite:
"Please join us for an exclusive event to unveil a new gaming initiative from Disney Interactive."
Pixar head John Lasseter (the brain behind the lucrative "Toy Story" franchise) will lead the discussion January 15 in California along with co-President of Disney Interactive, John Pleasants.
Given the project is coined "Infinity" – half of "Toy Story" moon man Buzz Lightyear's ubiquitous "To Infinity and Beyond" catchphrase – it only seems fitting Lasseter would be part of the big announcement.
The news comes a few months after the start of changes to Disney's troubled interactive segment – it laid off some 50 employees in September and soon after redesigned its entire website.
Earlier this year, Bloomberg reported the segment has lost Disney $1.39 billion in the past five years, so changes to the division are long overdue.
Hints of Infinity had been dropped from Disney heads for the past few months.
In September, CFO Jay Rasulo made mention of a future game-changing interactive unit during a question and answer session at Goldman Sachs' Communacopia Conference.
"We start the year right out with a big title "Epic Mickey 2," and another big title that hasn't been announced yet, but coming mid-year, and continuing to grow in the social space."
CEO Bob Iger again hinted at an innovative new platform with the code-name "Toy Box" coming to the company in October to The New York Times promising the failing interactive segment will become profitable next year.
So, what will Infinity be?
There's a lot of speculation essentially calling Disney's future game initiative will be a "Skylanders" killer.
If you're not familiar with Activision's current child goldmine, the game which is based on Sony's popular dragon character "Spyro," has brought in $500 million in sales to date.
Since its release in 2011, Activision has said more than 30 million toys have been sold, overtaking the top "Star Wars" action figure line.
The rumor going around is that the game will allow Disney and Pixar characters to interact and be playable on game platforms including xBox 360, and PS3.
Similar to "Skylanders," consumers would possibly be able to purchase physical figurines of popular Disney and Pixar characters that could be scanned or entered into a gaming console for play.
Forbes reports that such characters may include Sulley from "Monsters Inc." (There's a prequel for the film out next year), Jack Sparrow (Pirates of the Caribbean), and Mr. Incredible ("The Incredibles").
Basically, if this is what the game would entail, it has the potential to be Disney's successful "Kingdom Hearts" (KH) franchise on steroids.
KH, of course, already allowed fans to traverse the multiple worlds of its most famed Disney classics from "The Lion King" to "Beauty and the Beast," playing as the protagonists alongside Final Fantasy characters.
However, the addition of purchasable figurines would add another depth (and profit) unattainable by the KH franchise.
With Disney's $763 million acquisition of Playdom back in 2010, the mouse house also has the ability to make this into a viable online venture in addition to a platform-based game, much like their very successful Club Penguin aimed toward younger kids.
Since Pleasants will also be in on the announcement, we expect Disney Infinity to be a social game across networks.
However, the addition of purchasable figurines would add another depth (and profit) unattainable by the KH franchise.
With Disney now in control of the "Star Wars" property, we wonder if there may be an added connection to the valuable Lucasfilm franchise.
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