Disney stops making video games in house – insiders reveal what went wrong

QNX: a lovely embedded and even service OS. I used it for encryption and stream management in a game-cartridge-over cable-TV headend. They also included a bag of chocolate chip cookies in the box. :)

Microsoft: I remember the agonizing (and multiply failed) Hotmail transition from Unix to Windows after the acquisition. I was working for a vendor called in to assist and the status meetings were a slow motion car wreck.

They always tell you that nothing will change and this isn't really a lie exactly, as the person who says it genuinely believes it. But in a year's time that person has moved on, been promoted, busy with another acquisition, whatever, and now you report to an established and powerful manager in the old company, who doesn't see why you are special or should be treated differently than his or her existing staff. In fact they probably actively resent you; the company buying you at all they take as a signal that existing staff weren't "good enough". At that point, you are screwed.

It usually takes a year post deal for everything to come out of the woodwork. Sometimes it ends happily, sometimes not. It's down to serendipity.

Actually, generally, nobody has a clue what they're doing, ever, but they believe they do, and that's good enough, more often than not.

Acquisition deals happen almost by accident, and for reasons which are rarely rational.

I don't hold much hope for the next films.

Unfortunately, you could package two hours of film of an actual gold-plated turd, and it would make a billion dollars if it had the Star Wars name on it.

In my opinion, what Disney should be doing, is contact Ron, and make Guybrush and LeChuck appear in the next Pirates of the Caribbean movie, to introduce them to a new generation who does not have any idea of who they are (Guybrush being a young naive boy again would fit pretty well for this job). After all, PotC and MI universes are pretty compatible, it should be easy to make it look like they are both in the same universe/time.

Then, they could either make MI a spin-off (preferably), or make Guybrush be a new sidekick to Sparrow (but please, dont make him a silly Robin).

And then, give Ron full freedom to work with that IP as he wishes... (and pay him accordingly, or better, give him a nice % of royalties).

If they don't want to sell the IP, at least, this way they could make some money with it (instead of letting it rot in a drawer), without risking their PotC franchise, letting Ron continue the story, and making us fans happy in the process!!

Excerpt:

  But what media company has almost 4 times the market   
  capitalization of CBS and is among the largest media
  conglomerates in the world? That would be Disney of course. 
  And what is Disney doing to celebrate the 25th Anniversary 
  of DuckTales, the most successful syndicated cartoon series 
  in history? Absolutely nothing.
  I'm always quite amazed at Disney's inability to capitalize 
  on their own successful products.

Their subsidiaries (eg IO Interactive and, Edios Montreal, and Square Enix Montreal) seem to be doing better overall.

That's actually pretty funny, with SE also being a shadow of it's former self.

If it was successful, then it just seems natural that they'd continue to license the IP out to let those who do know games do their thing with franchises, and honestly the in-house production of games for Disney always seemed off.

So this model is proven. Despite the hypothetical risk to not owning the IP, there was always somebody willing to pay and take the gamble.