Disney proposes purchase of UTV Software

The House of Mouse is looking to get even bigger. Walt Disney Company is proposing to buy out UTV Software Communications Ltd., owners of Ignition Entertainment, Indiagames, and True Games.

Andrew Yoon

July 27, 2011 4:30 PM

The House of Mouse is looking to get even bigger. Walt Disney Company is proposing to buy out UTV Software Communications Ltd. Disney already holds a majority stake in UTV, with 50.4% of the equity share capital of the company. The acquisition would affect Ignition Entertainment, a subsidiary of UTV.

"Walt Disney has always been interested in most of UTV's business, especially the gaming part," an analyst said.

Reuters reports that the purchase, should it be accepted, would expand Disney's presence in India. UTV Software owns Ignition Entertainment, Indiagames, and True Games.

The purchase would likely be the death knell for beleaguered games publisher Ignition Entertainment. Its upcoming El Shaddai: Ascension of the Metatron is the last game to be internally developed by the company, after shutting many of its studios. Its focus on games geared towards traditional gamers would make it out of line with Disney's new pursuit of social and casual gaming. Disney recently shuttered Black Rock, developer of Split/Second. Former members of the studio claim they "never stood a chance" to adapt to Disney's new demands. Disney also shut down Turok developer Propoganda Games.

Andrew Yoon

Andrew Yoon was previously a games journalist creating content at Shacknews.

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July 27, 2011 4:30 PM

Andrew Yoon posted a new article, Disney proposes purchase of UTV Software.

The House of Mouse is looking to get even bigger. Walt Disney Company is proposing to buy out UTV Software Communications Ltd., owners of Ignition Entertainment, Indiagames, and True Games.
- the archvile
  
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  July 27, 2011 5:07 PM
  
  I don't know what that analyst is smoking, but I want some of it.
  
  I'm guessing that this is Disney wanting to get into the Indian media business of UTV, not the games divisions. What's left of Ignition now isn't much. After the UTV acquisition in 2007, Ignition opened studios in Florida and Tokyo ( http://www.shacknews.com/article/50438/ignition-opens-american-japanese-studios ), and then started closing them down.
  
  Florida: http://www.shacknews.com/article/66332/rumor-ignition-florida-shutting-down
  Austin (those not developing Reich) and Tokyo: http://www.shacknews.com/article/69061/ignition-lays-off-console-team
  
  And then they later announced that they don't want to develop games anymore, and only want to publish. But now, if Disney acquires them, they're probably almost entirely redundant.