Disney has appointed John Drake as vice president of business development and licensing for games. The role is fundamental in defining how the intellectual properties of the company, ranging from Marvel characters to the Star Wars saga, are getting portrayed in gaming.
Drake said on Twitter that he would work to “pair amazing developers and publishers with the best IP in the world,” as “I’ve been a Disney fan my entire life – animation, live-action, Pixar – and now Star Wars, Marvel, Fox and everything else? It’s an amazing time to bring those worlds to the games and interactive space!”
From the looks of it, Disney wants to do something more with its intellectual properties in the space of gaming. Perhaps after Marvel’s Spider-Man success and the incoming Marvel’s Avengers, which is also expected to be massive.
I’ve been a Disney fan my entire life – animation, live action, Pixar – and now Star Wars, Marvel, Fox and everything else? It’s an amazing time to bring those worlds to the games and interactive space! And it’s a wonderful team – “It takes people to make the dream a reality.”
— johntdrake (@johntdrake) July 15, 2019
It’s worth noting that the Star Wars IP has had a bit of trouble since the license went to Electronic Arts. The publisher has only shipped Star Wars Battlefront I and II. The first without a single-player component, and the second hugely harmed by its controversial microtransactions.
With Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order releasing in Nov., there’s a chance that Drake might have been appointed to give that a look. He could assist in flipping the game around for EA if it becomes a failure.
