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Disney admits it isn't very good at video games

It's never demonstrated "much skill" in the video game area, says CEO Bob Iger.

Jennifer Bisset Former Senior Editor / Culture
Jennifer Bisset was a senior editor for CNET. She covered film and TV news and reviews. The movie that inspired her to want a career in film is Lost in Translation. She won Best New Journalist in 2019 at the Australian IT Journalism Awards.
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  • Best New Journalist 2019 Australian IT Journalism Awards
Jennifer Bisset
2 min read
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EA Games

You can do anything you set your mind to -- but also, stick to your strengths.

In an earnings call Tuesday,  Disney  noted it's steering clear of returning to games development, reports Variety.

Disney, owner of Marvel, Star Wars and Pixar, said it had a "good" relationship with Electronic Arts , the company it partnered with in 2013 but admits video game making is not the House of Mouse's forte.

"We're good at making movies and television shows and theme parks and cruise ships and the like, we've just never managed to demonstrate much skill on the publishing side of games," CEO Bob Iger said when asked about Disney potentially dipping into video games once more.

Disney video game titles have been dropping like flies. In 2016, Disney shed video game series Disney Infinity, and in 2018, it closed massively multiplayer online role-playing game Club Penguin Island.

EA is still going strong with Star Wars games (which it has exclusive rights to through the Disney partnership), saying Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order will come this year

"We've had good relationships with some of those we're licensing to, notably EA and the relationship on the Star Wars properties, and we're probably going to stay on that side of the business and put our capital elsewhere," Iger said.

Many have criticised EA's strategy when it comes to Star Wars and its video game releases. Its Battlefront series has been embroiled in controversy over its "loot box" strategy and as recently as January, EA canceled its long-troubled, open-world Star Wars title in development.