In a rather shocking move, Disney has announced that it is discontinuing the Disney Infinity toy and video game line, which included three Star Wars play sets.  Earlier today, John Blackburn, Senior Vice-President and General Manager of Disney Infinity, released the following statement:

By now you may have heard the news that we have made the difficult decision to discontinue production of Disney Infinity. From the beginning, Disney Infinity was built for you—our fans—and I wanted to take a moment to thank you not just for your support over the years, but for creating a community that made Disney Infinity more than just a game.

Our goal for Disney Infinity was to bring the best of Disney storytelling to life in homes around the world, and with your support we accomplished that. We hope you had as much fun playing the game as we had making it.

So what’s next for Disney Infinity? We have two final retail releases coming, including three new characters from Alice Through the Looking Glass later this month, and the Finding Dory Play Set launching in June.

And as we turn to the next chapter in our story, I want to thank everyone who helped bring Disney Infinity to life, particularly Disney’s Glendale-based production and publishing teams, our external development partners, and of course the incredible Avalanche team for their tireless dedication to this project.

But most of all, I want to again thank you for making Disney Infinity a part of your lives—and for adding to the Disney legacy by being a part of this community.

According to Kotaku, Disney is also shutting down Avalanche Software, a game developer based in Utah that was responsible for Disney Infinity.

As Variety mentioned, this decision comes on the heels of Disney earnings falling short of analyst expectations for the first time in two years.  Many have noted that Disney earnings are suffering due to the increasing number of individuals cutting cable TV, and thus, decreased revenues generated by Disney owned outlets such as ESPN.  As a result, despite the smashing success of Star Wars: The Force Awakens, there’s a financial reality beyond just films that Disney is seemingly having to grapple with.  Disney Infinity seems to be one of the most recent victims of that reality.

Infinity Inquirer was able to get a portion of an internal memo sent around following this announcement:

The team behind Disney Infinity created an incredible product. It was a critical success that inspired a deeply engaged community of players. But, despite Disney Infinity’s quality, it has become difficult to financially justify continued investment given the lack of growth in the toys-to-life market. Coupled with high development costs, the economics of our current vertical business model no longer add up.

This news is particularly disappointing to me, and I think, to others in the MSW family.  Several of us have kids, and I think we enjoyed the family-friendly game play, as well as the great collectible figures.  We’ve covered Disney Infinity thoroughly on this site, and it’s been easy to do so because of how much we love it.  My article on Disney Infinity’s development of the Star Wars characters, and in particular, Princess Leia, is probably my favorite piece that I’ve written for MSW.  I really felt that Disney Infinity did everything right and they really loved the Star Wars characters, franchise and its fans.  It’s sad to see all that passion and work come to an end.

I definitely wish those affected by this decision the very best and hope they land on their feet quickly.  May the Force be with you all!