The makers of Disney Epic Mickey, Junction Point Studios, is no more. Disney released this statement today that was picked up by All Games Beta:
[quote]It was with much sadness that we informed our teams today of changes to our Games organization, which include the closure of Junction Point Studios. These changes are part of our ongoing effort to address the fast-evolving gaming platforms and marketplace and to align resources against our key priorities. We’re extremely grateful to Warren Spector and the Junction Point team for their creative contributions to Disney with Disney Epic Mickey and Disney Epic Mickey 2.[/quote]
It’s more bad news for an industry that has already seen one of the biggest publishers, THQ, disappear, and another development studio, Vigil, shut down. Junction Point only finished two games: Disney Epic Mickey and its sequel, which were both praised for their art direction – the games took place in a steampunk-esque world where Walt Disney’s forgotten creations go to live out their days – but criticized for a problematic camera and repetitive gameplay. The franchise also introduced a new generation to Oswald The Lucky Rabbit, a long-forgotten Walt Disney creation that predates Mickey Mouse himself.
Worth noting: the Nintendo 3DS version of Disney Epic Mickey was developed by DreamRift, who is still around as far as we know. Disney hasn’t said whether this will be the end of the franchise.
