The Walt Disney Company has announced that they have delayed the launch of their Skylanders-esk game, Disney Infinity, from its original June 2013 release window, to August 18th in North America and August 20th internationally. Disney Interactive co-president John Pleasants revealed that the two month delay was due to an “opportunity” rather than a necessity.
“The date became an issue in terms of them asking, ‘Is there a better opportunity here?’ ” Pleasants told the New York Times. “We could deliver in June if we wanted to. Will a two-month timing change help us? Sure, of course. It gives us a little more time to add bells and whistles and make sure it really sings and pops.”
Musical references aside, the new August release date should still give Disney Interactive plenty of time to get Disney Infinity onto retail shelves before Activision releases the next installment in their popular video game/toy hybrid franchise, Skylanders Swap Force, this Fall.
Pleasants seemed well aware of the looming competition between Disney Infinity and Skylanders, adding “We think it’s good to be first and really lean into the most important selling season of the year.”
Disney Infinity is currently expected to launch on the PlayStation 3, Xbox 360, Wii, Wii U, PC, 3DS, and mobile platforms this August. The console and PC versions of the game are said to be nearly identical, and use a reader base that players set the toy figures in to unlock different characters and levels within the game. These versions will also feature a Toy Box mode — inspired from the Toy Box mode in Avalanche Software’s 2010 Toy Story 3 game — which will let players “mash” together different characters and settings from Disney’s franchises.
Details are still sketchy, however, Disney has confirmed that both the 3DS and mobile versions of Disney Infinity will contain different gameplay from their console and PC counterparts.
Look for more details on Disney Infinity as we more closer to the game’s new August release date.