Disney Forms Game Entertainment Business Unit

Posted on September 19, 2001

The Walt Disney Company has formed a new business unit, the Buena Vista Game Entertainment Studio, with Jan E. Smith installed as its president, it was announced by Robert A. Iger, Disney's president and chief operating officer. Smith, a 14-year Disney veteran, will continue to serve in her current role as president of Disney Interactive while creating the new organization.

``As a new addition to our entertainment mix, the Buena Vista Game Entertainment Studio will leverage Disney's content and brands in some very creative and innovative ways while providing interactive and challenging experiences for kids, parents and entire families,'' noted Iger. ``Technological changes are rapidly sweeping over the game industry. This new business unit will position The Walt Disney Company to take full advantage of this evolving landscape by consolidating our existing game activity and aggressively and creatively pursuing new opportunities and entertainment.''

Entertainment game software is a fast growing business, with retail software sales expected to reach $15 billion this calendar year. Disney stated that soon, people no longer will have to sit together at a table -- or at a single PC or game station -- to play a game. They will be able to play and interact across continents and thousands of miles, through a variety of platforms or stations. Unlike most parlor games and even current online games, they need not even speak the same language to play together.

``Technology is blurring the lines of traditional entertainment,'' Smith said. ``A variety of online platforms are emerging that will enable people to connect and play games together with a variety of devices -- televisions, conventional telephones, wireless phones, PCs, digital set-top boxes and other, future platforms -- with the potential of combining all this with television and interactive game content. With games as a key component, interactive entertainment will have a profound and lasting impact on today's entertainment industry.''

Smith joined Disney in 1987 to help create and launch The Disney Store, served as vice president of Licensed Publishing and Creative Development, spearheaded the launch of several new book imprints as vice president and group publisher for Disney Publishing for Children, and then became executive vice president and subsequently president of Disney Interactive. As head of the Buena Vista Game Entertainment Studio, Smith will report to Iger. In her continuing role as president of Disney Interactive, she will report to Andrew Mooney, president of Disney Consumer Products.