Disney Interactive is set to release the latest version of its "Infinity" video game franchise, this time featuring Iron Man, Hulk and other superheroes.
“Disney Infinity: Marvel Super Heroes” hits retail stores Sept. 23. The game has been rated “E10+” by the Entertainment Software Ratings Board.
“With ‘Marvel Super Heroes,’ we’re very excited we’re going to be getting all the Marvel fans into the platform,” said John Vignocchi, executive producer of Disney Interactive.
Disney acquired Marvel in 2009 and began work on “Disney Infinity: Marvel Super Heroes” in 2011. The company decided to create a new chapter of the game rather than integrate the superheroes into the original “Disney Infinity.”
The game comes in the wake of the tremendous box office success of "The Avengers" in 2012 ($623 million domestic, according to boxofficemojo.com) and "Guardians of the Galaxy" this past summer ($313 million domestic, according to boxofficemojo.com).
“We wanted to blow out the Marvels in a big way,” Vignocchi said. “We decided to do a dedicated release, which is when ‘Marvel Super Heroes’ came to be.”
Disney has integrated over 20 of the Marvel superheroes into the game.
Game creators spent a majority of their time working to improve the Toy Box experience for players, a part of the game where users can build their own worlds with a massive array of components. Toy Box mode differs from Play Set mode, which is more typical, quest-style play.
Vignocchi said the team has found that “60 percent of users’ time was spent inside the Toy Box mode of play, so that’s where we spent a lot of our time … making it so people could build even more than they could before.”
Vignocchi said users can look forward to a new auto creator feature.
“The new auto creator feature allows (users) to create an incredible world for them to play inside of,” Vignocchi said. “They can use the Marvel superhero to explore and have a wonderful adventure.”
Disney Interactive recently came to Salt Lake City on Aug. 16-17 for a two-day event hosting 22 Toy Box designers from all over the world.
John Blackburn, vice president and general manager of Avalanche Software, and Vignocchi gave keynote addresses, and guests were able to meet the Avalanche Software designers and development team, as well as participate in workshops and a Toy Box design challenge.
Vignocchi said the event exceeded expectations and the company felt privileged to fly game developers from around the world to Salt Lake.
“When we started this journey with allowing players to create their own content … we never thought we’d have such an incredibly robust and loving community as we have today,” Vignocchi said.
During the Toy Box design challenge, Vignocchi said artists worked through the night with pillows and blankets so they could spend as much time as possible on their creations in an effort to win the grand prize award, a PlayStation 4.
“They cared so much about having ("Disney Infinity: Marvel Super Heroes") in a brand new PlayStation console, at the last minute we made the decision to award everyone with a PS4,” Vignocchi said.
Vignocchi said he is excited “to see all the touches of creativism people come up with inside of our Toy Box modes.”
The "starter pack" retails for $74.99 and includes the game disc, an "Avengers" play set and three playable characters figures — Thor, Iron Man and Black Widow. Additional figures must be purchased separately to import other characters into the game.
Amber Clayson is a comms grad from BYU and currently writes for the Church News and Mormon Times. She can be reached at aclayson@deseretnews.com.