It would have been easier to break into the Death Star. For videogame creators working on Star Wars Episode VII: The Force Awakens content for the next edition of the Disney Infinity toys-to-life franchise, getting their hands on the top-secret script involved high-security protocols rivalling those of the Galactic Empire.
“We had to go through biometric scanning, and there were codenames for everything,” said John Vignocchi, vice president of production at Disney Interactive Studios and “emperor” of the Infinity franchise. “It was without a doubt the most complicated thing we’ve ever worked on in the five years I’ve been here.”
That’s probably not hyperbole, considering the fact that the ambitious Infinity has featured a wide variety of characters from across Disney’s wide range of intellectual properties.
From the heroes of Marvel’s The Avengers to Elsa and Anna, the stars of Disney Animation’s Frozen, Infinity has a diverse range of playable characters that can, uncharacteristically, play together.
Similar to Activision’s Skylanders series, Infinity requires users to place a physical toy figure on a special reader to virtually render that character on screen, either in franchise-specific “playsets” or in the open-ended “toy box” mode, which allows users to design their own levels with an array of Disney characters, vehicles and props.
The brand-busting introduction of “Infinity” in 2013 helped Disney’s interactive division to become profitable for the first time in six years, though Disney reported in an earnings call this month that sales of the series had recently slipped.
Like the Empire, however, they are expected to strike back on August 30 when a Star Wars-centric third edition is unleashed.
Disney Infinity 3.0 will feature a collection of characters from across all eras of George Lucas’s sprawling sci-fi universe, including Luke Skywalker, Yoda and Darth Vader from the original trilogy, Anakin Skywalker from the prequels and Clone Wars animated series, and all-new heroes and villains from director J J Abrams’ The Force Awakens, which was partly filmed in Abu Dhabi and will be released on December 17.
During a presentation at the fan-filled D23 Expo last weekend, actors John Boyega and Daisy Ridley unveiled the Infinity figures of their Force Awakens characters, soldier Finn and scavenger Rey.
They will be featured in a playset that will serve as the only way for fans to interactively experience the plot from the hugely anticipated new film.
“It’s been a lot of work,” said Vignocchi during a break from the Toy Box Summit, an annual gathering of top Infinity players. “It’s an honour but also a huge responsibility because we’re the only game in town with Episode VII content on consoles. We have to deliver a video-game experience that’s just as great as the film.”
When Infinity launched in 2013, Disney dubbed it a platform – not simply a game – and promised it would be a new way to deliver interactive content based on films and TV shows, instead of usual stand-alone titles. That’s never been more apparent than in the company’s decision not to release a separate The Force Awakens game.
John Blackburn, general manager at lead Infinity developer Avalanche Software, said creating Episode VII content for Infinity proved challenging because the team secretly working on it had to be kept small – and testing the game before Force Awakens footage was released meant employing codenames for characters and locations.
“We don’t want to show too much because you need to first see the film,” said Blackburn. “The first time you see these characters should not be in our game. That’s just a baseline belief because we’re taking it and putting it through a different lens.
“The palette we had to choose from was basically of things that people had already seen.”
In other words, it is uncharted territory for Infinity. Unlike most well-known Disney, Marvel and Lucasfilm characters, the Force Awakens newbies aren’t arriving with fan clubs, and their backstories are still a mystery. Finn and Rey’s last names, for example, have not been revealed. (Blackburn knows them – he read the script for the film over a year ago.)
“There is an awareness challenge because people aren’t as familiar with these characters, but there are other characters from the Star Wars universe that are in the film and other playsets,” said Matt Fillbrandt, executive producer of franchise management at Lucasfilm. “There’s connective tissue that I think will pique fans’ interest.”
Regardless of the awakening of Star Wars in Infinity, it won’t totally dominate the series.
Disney Interactive announced at D23 that caveboy Spot from Pixar’s upcoming The Good Dinosaur, as well as rabbit police officer Judy Hopps and popsicle-wielding fox Nick Wilde from Disney Animation’s Zootopia are also coming to Infinity, while the Marvel superheroes will receive a four-player multiplayer expansion called Battlegrounds.
“We have a plan for what’s next, and it’s not predicated on a huge franchise release,” says Blackburn. “Opportunistically, are we going to use those things? Yeah, definitely, but we’re hard at work on the next content.
“When you look at it as a whole, we’ve launched everything, and now it’s like we’re going into sustainment mode.”
