1
00:00:07,920 --> 00:00:12,240
Speaker 1: Welcome to Strictly Business Varieties, weekly podcast feature and conversations

2
00:00:12,280 --> 00:00:16,040
Speaker 1: about the business of media and entertainment. I'm TV business

3
00:00:16,040 --> 00:00:19,799
Speaker 1: writer Jennifer Moss. Twenty twenty three was a big year

4
00:00:19,800 --> 00:00:23,480
Speaker 1: for Disney gaming. From the huge debut for Marvel's much

5
00:00:23,520 --> 00:00:27,000
Speaker 1: anticipated Spider Man two in October, to the move of

6
00:00:27,080 --> 00:00:29,600
Speaker 1: Disney Dream Light Valley out of its year long data

7
00:00:29,640 --> 00:00:33,040
Speaker 1: phase into its hard launch in December, and the recent

8
00:00:33,080 --> 00:00:36,800
Speaker 1: release of Avatar Frontiers of Pandora. The Disney team and

9
00:00:36,840 --> 00:00:40,760
Speaker 1: its outside developers and publishing partners have been hard at work,

10
00:00:41,320 --> 00:00:43,640
Speaker 1: and with the announcement of a new Blade game tied

11
00:00:43,680 --> 00:00:46,400
Speaker 1: to the upcoming Marvel movie during the twenty twenty three

12
00:00:46,479 --> 00:00:48,440
Speaker 1: Game Awards, things don't appear to be.

13
00:00:48,400 --> 00:00:50,640
Speaker 2: Slowing down for the Moss Houses Gaming division.

14
00:00:51,400 --> 00:00:55,000
Speaker 1: Here to talk about focusing on licensing versus developing in house,

15
00:00:55,600 --> 00:00:58,840
Speaker 1: the future of generative AI and gaming, the pros and

16
00:00:58,840 --> 00:01:02,480
Speaker 1: cons of user general to content, the power of Disney IP,

17
00:01:03,240 --> 00:01:05,600
Speaker 1: and what big titles are coming in twenty twenty four

18
00:01:05,680 --> 00:01:08,840
Speaker 1: and twenty twenty five. Is Disney Senior Vice President of

19
00:01:08,920 --> 00:01:21,840
Speaker 1: Games and Interactive Experiences, Sean shop Talk and We're back

20
00:01:21,880 --> 00:01:24,600
Speaker 1: with Sean Shopta head of Disney's Gaming.

21
00:01:25,400 --> 00:01:27,199
Speaker 2: Thank you so much for joining me today.

22
00:01:27,240 --> 00:01:27,520
Speaker 1: Sean.

23
00:01:28,120 --> 00:01:30,880
Speaker 2: I'm so excited to have you here. We're starting to have.

24
00:01:30,920 --> 00:01:34,880
Speaker 1: More people in gaming on the Strictly Business podcast, and

25
00:01:34,959 --> 00:01:38,080
Speaker 1: I'm really excited to have you so closely to two

26
00:01:38,160 --> 00:01:40,960
Speaker 1: big things in gaming this week, one the Game.

27
00:01:40,760 --> 00:01:42,480
Speaker 2: Awards, and then two even.

28
00:01:42,240 --> 00:01:45,200
Speaker 1: More important to me, the launch of a rift and

29
00:01:45,200 --> 00:01:48,920
Speaker 1: time expansion for dream Light Valley, Big Big dream Light Valley.

30
00:01:48,960 --> 00:01:52,600
Speaker 1: Finn already seen several hours into that expansion this week.

31
00:01:52,640 --> 00:01:55,720
Speaker 2: Sean, so so excited to have you here.

32
00:01:55,800 --> 00:01:59,440
Speaker 1: I'd like to start out just if you could start

33
00:01:59,440 --> 00:02:01,720
Speaker 1: with your own back and how you came into the

34
00:02:01,760 --> 00:02:02,880
Speaker 1: position you're currently in.

35
00:02:03,800 --> 00:02:06,000
Speaker 3: Sure, well, first off, thanks for having me, Jenny, really

36
00:02:06,040 --> 00:02:09,280
Speaker 3: happy to be here. Appreciate the time I've been at

37
00:02:09,280 --> 00:02:12,640
Speaker 3: Disney a little over twelve years now. I started out

38
00:02:12,680 --> 00:02:17,120
Speaker 3: in business development and strategy over the games and media

39
00:02:17,160 --> 00:02:20,160
Speaker 3: businesses for the company, and then about five years ago

40
00:02:20,480 --> 00:02:24,000
Speaker 3: in twenty eighteen, I took over and started running the

41
00:02:24,040 --> 00:02:26,800
Speaker 3: games business, which is the role I obviously am currently

42
00:02:26,800 --> 00:02:29,440
Speaker 3: in as well. So been about twelve years at the

43
00:02:29,480 --> 00:02:33,880
Speaker 3: company and the last five or so overseeing the games business.

44
00:02:35,080 --> 00:02:36,880
Speaker 1: So that people you know, I don't know how much

45
00:02:36,919 --> 00:02:39,519
Speaker 1: our listeners know about the different ways that the gaming

46
00:02:39,520 --> 00:02:41,520
Speaker 1: divisions are broken down at this point, but can you

47
00:02:41,600 --> 00:02:44,160
Speaker 1: give kind of a high level overview of the gaming

48
00:02:44,200 --> 00:02:45,800
Speaker 1: division structure at Disney right now?

49
00:02:46,560 --> 00:02:46,920
Speaker 4: Yeah.

50
00:02:46,960 --> 00:02:51,360
Speaker 3: So, we obviously have a robust team across all franchises.

51
00:02:51,360 --> 00:02:53,799
Speaker 4: So we've got a Marvel Games team, a Lucasfilm Games team.

52
00:02:53,840 --> 00:02:54,560
Speaker 4: We've got folks that.

53
00:02:54,639 --> 00:02:58,680
Speaker 3: Oversee Disney, Pixar games, and Twentieth Century games as well.

54
00:02:58,760 --> 00:03:01,560
Speaker 3: So we kind of break it down franchise and then

55
00:03:01,600 --> 00:03:04,120
Speaker 3: within that we've got a central business development team, a

56
00:03:04,200 --> 00:03:07,680
Speaker 3: central marketing team, a central creative team, and then production

57
00:03:07,880 --> 00:03:10,080
Speaker 3: roles that support those franchises.

58
00:03:10,120 --> 00:03:13,000
Speaker 4: As I laid out, So again, we've got a.

59
00:03:12,960 --> 00:03:16,480
Speaker 3: Pretty a pretty robust team of folks in LA We've

60
00:03:16,520 --> 00:03:20,280
Speaker 3: got our Lucasfilm team up in San Francisco. We've got

61
00:03:20,320 --> 00:03:24,680
Speaker 3: some some teams in Tokyo and Shanghai and Soeoul, and a.

62
00:03:24,600 --> 00:03:26,120
Speaker 4: Small footprint in London.

63
00:03:26,280 --> 00:03:33,320
Speaker 3: So again, across business, development, marketing, production, creative. Uh, you know,

64
00:03:33,360 --> 00:03:36,120
Speaker 3: we really kind of have a full org that helps

65
00:03:36,120 --> 00:03:38,000
Speaker 3: support this business internally.

66
00:03:39,560 --> 00:03:43,080
Speaker 1: For its games. How much is done internally for Disney

67
00:03:43,160 --> 00:03:46,200
Speaker 1: and how much is external and working with outside developers,

68
00:03:46,240 --> 00:03:47,720
Speaker 1: outside partners and publishers.

69
00:03:48,440 --> 00:03:51,240
Speaker 4: Yeah, so we are an exclusively licensed.

70
00:03:50,760 --> 00:03:53,840
Speaker 3: Business for the most part, so we have you know,

71
00:03:53,880 --> 00:03:56,240
Speaker 3: we are partner dependent. We work with all the partners

72
00:03:56,240 --> 00:03:59,200
Speaker 3: that you're probably aware of, companies like EA and Sony

73
00:03:59,280 --> 00:04:02,320
Speaker 3: and others to bring our games to life.

74
00:04:02,760 --> 00:04:05,440
Speaker 4: But we support those partners, as I said, with.

75
00:04:05,520 --> 00:04:07,360
Speaker 3: A team of folks that make sure that these things

76
00:04:07,400 --> 00:04:11,760
Speaker 3: are being brought to life authentically for our characters, stories

77
00:04:11,800 --> 00:04:15,040
Speaker 3: and worlds. But you know, we are dependent on partners

78
00:04:15,080 --> 00:04:18,160
Speaker 3: making games, and we license our IP to those companies

79
00:04:18,520 --> 00:04:21,159
Speaker 3: and then we support them in the development of the product.

80
00:04:22,560 --> 00:04:25,000
Speaker 1: Do you find that there's ways that that benefits you

81
00:04:25,120 --> 00:04:27,599
Speaker 1: in this market at this time or are there conversations

82
00:04:27,640 --> 00:04:30,080
Speaker 1: about bringing more things in house as time goes on,

83
00:04:30,160 --> 00:04:33,120
Speaker 1: as our conversation about moving more away from licensing or

84
00:04:33,279 --> 00:04:33,880
Speaker 1: more toward it.

85
00:04:34,760 --> 00:04:37,080
Speaker 4: No, I think we're really happy with where we are.

86
00:04:37,160 --> 00:04:39,960
Speaker 3: We made a conscious decision to do this, like I said,

87
00:04:40,040 --> 00:04:44,200
Speaker 3: or roughly five years ago. We had historically done different

88
00:04:44,240 --> 00:04:46,520
Speaker 3: things in games. As you're aware, we were a vertical

89
00:04:46,520 --> 00:04:48,560
Speaker 3: business for a long time. We were a co development

90
00:04:48,600 --> 00:04:52,200
Speaker 3: business for a while where we would outsource development and

91
00:04:52,240 --> 00:04:54,839
Speaker 3: we would publish, and we've always of course licensed.

92
00:04:55,600 --> 00:04:57,440
Speaker 4: We felt like where we are and where.

93
00:04:57,240 --> 00:04:59,919
Speaker 3: We were then it made most sense to pivot the business,

94
00:05:00,600 --> 00:05:03,640
Speaker 3: you know, exclusively the licensing. It allows us really to

95
00:05:03,720 --> 00:05:06,960
Speaker 3: work with the best publishers and developers anywhere they are,

96
00:05:07,400 --> 00:05:09,520
Speaker 3: and for us, with the breadth of IP we have

97
00:05:09,720 --> 00:05:13,840
Speaker 3: with you know, so much ambition to tell really great

98
00:05:13,880 --> 00:05:17,400
Speaker 3: original stories in this space. This model really suited us

99
00:05:17,400 --> 00:05:19,800
Speaker 3: well and has really allowed us to go work with

100
00:05:20,680 --> 00:05:23,320
Speaker 3: folks that have a ton of passion for our characters,

101
00:05:23,360 --> 00:05:27,440
Speaker 3: stories and worlds, and matching that with best in class

102
00:05:27,480 --> 00:05:29,719
Speaker 3: developers has really been a formula for us that we

103
00:05:29,800 --> 00:05:33,440
Speaker 3: think is really valuable for the company and really drives

104
00:05:33,560 --> 00:05:36,279
Speaker 3: ultimately the best product for fans.

105
00:05:37,880 --> 00:05:39,880
Speaker 1: I touched on the Game Awards briefly at the top

106
00:05:39,920 --> 00:05:41,000
Speaker 1: of this, but I want to go back to that

107
00:05:41,040 --> 00:05:43,240
Speaker 1: now because that was last night, and one thing in

108
00:05:43,279 --> 00:05:46,920
Speaker 1: particular that was very exciting was the Blade announcement made

109
00:05:47,040 --> 00:05:50,279
Speaker 1: during the awards, and that a partnership but does and Marvel,

110
00:05:50,400 --> 00:05:53,279
Speaker 1: so I want to ask you about that, what the

111
00:05:53,320 --> 00:05:55,560
Speaker 1: current state is there and the decision to make that

112
00:05:55,600 --> 00:05:58,400
Speaker 1: announcement out of the Game Awards, which is obviously a

113
00:05:58,520 --> 00:05:59,800
Speaker 1: very bignite for gamers.

114
00:06:00,200 --> 00:06:03,279
Speaker 3: Yeah, well, we were super excited about that announcement last night,

115
00:06:03,400 --> 00:06:06,320
Speaker 3: really happy now that the world is aware we're going

116
00:06:06,360 --> 00:06:07,159
Speaker 3: to make this game.

117
00:06:07,600 --> 00:06:09,599
Speaker 4: I think this is a great example.

118
00:06:09,360 --> 00:06:12,480
Speaker 3: Of that formula I just reference right, where you find

119
00:06:12,520 --> 00:06:14,880
Speaker 3: a partner that has a ton of passion for a

120
00:06:14,880 --> 00:06:19,320
Speaker 3: certain ip, a certain character, a certain story, which we

121
00:06:19,480 --> 00:06:22,560
Speaker 3: found is really the best way to bring a product

122
00:06:22,560 --> 00:06:25,800
Speaker 3: to market that really does our IP justice or does

123
00:06:25,839 --> 00:06:29,600
Speaker 3: these characters justice. And Blade's a great example, right, there's

124
00:06:29,640 --> 00:06:33,440
Speaker 3: a ton of passion at Bethesda for this game, which

125
00:06:33,520 --> 00:06:36,080
Speaker 3: again for us is really one of the big foundational

126
00:06:36,120 --> 00:06:39,880
Speaker 3: points to our model. We want to find developers and

127
00:06:40,000 --> 00:06:43,920
Speaker 3: publishers that have a ton of passion for rip and stories,

128
00:06:43,960 --> 00:06:46,880
Speaker 3: and so we focus a lot on finding that type

129
00:06:46,920 --> 00:06:49,800
Speaker 3: of match and Blade just a really good example of that.

130
00:06:49,839 --> 00:06:51,920
Speaker 3: Whether there was a ton of passion on the bethesta

131
00:06:51,960 --> 00:06:55,240
Speaker 3: side to tell this story, and we think, again that's

132
00:06:55,279 --> 00:06:58,039
Speaker 3: going to show up when this game launches down the road.

133
00:07:00,160 --> 00:07:02,840
Speaker 1: Know that Disney was involved in some nominations last night.

134
00:07:02,960 --> 00:07:05,680
Speaker 1: Didn't have all the wins that I wanted, but guys

135
00:07:05,680 --> 00:07:07,080
Speaker 1: were up for a lot, and I think it speaks

136
00:07:07,120 --> 00:07:09,240
Speaker 1: to the fact that it was a very competitive year

137
00:07:09,680 --> 00:07:11,960
Speaker 1: in general for gaming, So I wanted to know ask

138
00:07:12,000 --> 00:07:13,320
Speaker 1: you about that and what you kind of saw in

139
00:07:13,360 --> 00:07:16,320
Speaker 1: terms of the trends this year just across the industry

140
00:07:16,400 --> 00:07:18,040
Speaker 1: and what you thought some of the biggest wins for

141
00:07:18,080 --> 00:07:19,080
Speaker 1: you all personally were.

142
00:07:19,920 --> 00:07:22,680
Speaker 4: Yeah, Look, I think, to your point, super competitive year.

143
00:07:22,800 --> 00:07:24,920
Speaker 3: So we were happy to get nominated as we were

144
00:07:24,960 --> 00:07:28,360
Speaker 3: in such a competitive market, so many great games. I

145
00:07:28,400 --> 00:07:30,680
Speaker 3: think what what was clear to me and clear to

146
00:07:30,800 --> 00:07:33,400
Speaker 3: us is just the quality bar has.

147
00:07:33,280 --> 00:07:36,600
Speaker 4: Never been higher, right, and the demand for.

148
00:07:36,800 --> 00:07:42,240
Speaker 3: Quality storytelling really well made games, whether that's indie studios

149
00:07:42,360 --> 00:07:45,280
Speaker 3: or big Triple A games or you know, Triple A studios.

150
00:07:45,720 --> 00:07:49,000
Speaker 3: We think that that's you know, really clear, which we love, right.

151
00:07:49,040 --> 00:07:52,240
Speaker 3: It's about story, it's about quality, and I think this

152
00:07:52,360 --> 00:07:56,560
Speaker 3: year just illustrated that that the market's only getting more competitive.

153
00:07:56,600 --> 00:07:58,720
Speaker 4: The quality of product again, we.

154
00:07:58,680 --> 00:08:02,040
Speaker 3: Think, has never been better, which for us to even

155
00:08:02,080 --> 00:08:04,840
Speaker 3: be nominated in the class of some of these other games.

156
00:08:05,080 --> 00:08:06,560
Speaker 4: Made us feel really good, right that.

157
00:08:06,520 --> 00:08:10,640
Speaker 3: We've been partnering with the right partners telling really great stories,

158
00:08:10,680 --> 00:08:14,880
Speaker 3: and thankfully people are recognizing that work and it's something

159
00:08:14,880 --> 00:08:16,480
Speaker 3: again that we're super proud.

160
00:08:16,280 --> 00:08:20,560
Speaker 1: Of particular titles from this past years. You know, if

161
00:08:20,560 --> 00:08:22,760
Speaker 1: there's any specific examples you could give of things that

162
00:08:22,800 --> 00:08:25,320
Speaker 1: you're particularly proud of, things that maybe took a little

163
00:08:25,320 --> 00:08:27,000
Speaker 1: while to get out of the gate, but they finally

164
00:08:27,000 --> 00:08:29,520
Speaker 1: came out this year, or different things that you did

165
00:08:29,560 --> 00:08:32,520
Speaker 1: innovatively this year, something new things for you that you're

166
00:08:32,559 --> 00:08:33,120
Speaker 1: excited about.

167
00:08:33,600 --> 00:08:36,320
Speaker 3: Yeah, I mean, you hit on one with Dreamlight Valley.

168
00:08:37,080 --> 00:08:39,480
Speaker 3: That's a game that we're incredibly proud of that. I

169
00:08:39,480 --> 00:08:42,360
Speaker 3: think again, when you look at life sim games, when

170
00:08:42,360 --> 00:08:44,880
Speaker 3: you look at the behaviors and things that exist inside

171
00:08:44,880 --> 00:08:49,800
Speaker 3: that experience, that game has drawing more attention from my

172
00:08:50,040 --> 00:08:53,800
Speaker 3: network of folks that even aren't necessarily core gamers that

173
00:08:53,880 --> 00:08:56,400
Speaker 3: I get a lot of inbound interest on Dreamlight Value, which,

174
00:08:56,440 --> 00:09:00,640
Speaker 3: again we are super excited about the potential of this market. Certainly,

175
00:09:00,640 --> 00:09:03,000
Speaker 3: we think our ip with you know, from a Disney

176
00:09:03,000 --> 00:09:06,520
Speaker 3: Picks our perspective fits it perfectly, and we're.

177
00:09:06,400 --> 00:09:07,760
Speaker 4: Super happy with that execution.

178
00:09:08,000 --> 00:09:10,920
Speaker 3: I can't, you know, answer this question without mentioning Spider

179
00:09:10,920 --> 00:09:14,600
Speaker 3: Man two. You know, it was an incredibly high bar

180
00:09:14,800 --> 00:09:17,840
Speaker 3: coming out of the first game, coming off of Miles Morales.

181
00:09:18,559 --> 00:09:19,439
Speaker 4: To now have that.

182
00:09:19,440 --> 00:09:21,600
Speaker 3: Game and market which is something that you know, the

183
00:09:21,640 --> 00:09:24,040
Speaker 3: Marvel team had been incredibly focused on for a long

184
00:09:24,040 --> 00:09:25,120
Speaker 3: time with Insomniac.

185
00:09:25,559 --> 00:09:27,160
Speaker 4: We are super super proud of that.

186
00:09:27,400 --> 00:09:30,280
Speaker 3: And then yesterday, I also, you know, I'd be remiss

187
00:09:30,280 --> 00:09:34,240
Speaker 3: if I didn't mention Avatar, which released just yesterday, which

188
00:09:34,280 --> 00:09:38,520
Speaker 3: is another big, big, many year effort, a great partnership

189
00:09:38,559 --> 00:09:41,280
Speaker 3: with us and the light Storm team internally, and obviously

190
00:09:42,240 --> 00:09:45,199
Speaker 3: the massive team at Ubisoft, which again I don't know

191
00:09:45,240 --> 00:09:47,040
Speaker 3: if you've seen the game or played the game yet,

192
00:09:47,080 --> 00:09:51,360
Speaker 3: but an incredible, an incredibly immersive world and one that

193
00:09:51,720 --> 00:09:54,840
Speaker 3: we think Avatar fans and hopefully gamers of all all

194
00:09:54,880 --> 00:09:57,600
Speaker 3: ages are going to get into and enjoy. So that's

195
00:09:57,679 --> 00:10:00,560
Speaker 3: one that that we were very proud of and excited

196
00:10:00,600 --> 00:10:03,120
Speaker 3: that the market's finally going to get to play that

197
00:10:03,280 --> 00:10:06,640
Speaker 3: game and experience Pandora in a way that again has

198
00:10:06,679 --> 00:10:08,480
Speaker 3: really never existed inside of games.

199
00:10:08,480 --> 00:10:10,640
Speaker 4: So that's a that's a that's another one that we're

200
00:10:10,679 --> 00:10:11,240
Speaker 4: really proud of.

201
00:10:12,640 --> 00:10:14,480
Speaker 1: As you've already mentioned a few times, you know, IP

202
00:10:14,720 --> 00:10:17,160
Speaker 1: is really what core here, what Disney has in the

203
00:10:17,200 --> 00:10:18,520
Speaker 1: market that differentiates it.

204
00:10:19,480 --> 00:10:20,320
Speaker 2: There's so many.

205
00:10:20,120 --> 00:10:23,320
Speaker 1: Titles, but with that also comes a level of criticism

206
00:10:23,400 --> 00:10:26,960
Speaker 1: that gamers can have, and people who love IP the

207
00:10:26,960 --> 00:10:29,280
Speaker 1: specific IP can have when they see it and how

208
00:10:29,320 --> 00:10:31,600
Speaker 1: it's done, and that can go really well and it

209
00:10:31,640 --> 00:10:33,160
Speaker 1: can also go poorly. So I want to know what

210
00:10:33,200 --> 00:10:36,439
Speaker 1: it's like dealing with these very beloved ips that people

211
00:10:36,440 --> 00:10:38,760
Speaker 1: have very strong dealings about and how they want to

212
00:10:38,760 --> 00:10:40,959
Speaker 1: see that go on screen, and the level of trust

213
00:10:41,000 --> 00:10:44,040
Speaker 1: you have to have with your outside partners about staying

214
00:10:44,040 --> 00:10:46,080
Speaker 1: true to the IP, staying true to whatever brand it

215
00:10:46,160 --> 00:10:47,360
Speaker 1: is that they're working on for you.

216
00:10:47,840 --> 00:10:50,080
Speaker 3: It's a great question and one that really speaks to

217
00:10:50,120 --> 00:10:52,880
Speaker 3: that point I made a bit ago where you've really

218
00:10:52,920 --> 00:10:55,640
Speaker 3: got to have passion for this, for this IP, whatever

219
00:10:55,679 --> 00:10:57,960
Speaker 3: it is, because to your point, there's a there's a

220
00:10:58,080 --> 00:11:01,000
Speaker 3: huge fan base and a huge ball that's been set

221
00:11:01,480 --> 00:11:04,240
Speaker 3: through our films and TV shows and books and other

222
00:11:04,280 --> 00:11:07,280
Speaker 3: things where these stories have come from that you have

223
00:11:07,320 --> 00:11:11,520
Speaker 3: to meet as a partner. As our team internally, we

224
00:11:11,600 --> 00:11:14,319
Speaker 3: know the bar and certainly it's something that we spend

225
00:11:14,320 --> 00:11:16,839
Speaker 3: a lot of time focusing on making sure to your point,

226
00:11:16,920 --> 00:11:19,720
Speaker 3: that we are authentic to these characters, to these stories,

227
00:11:19,720 --> 00:11:23,079
Speaker 3: to these worlds, that whatever shows up on screen is

228
00:11:24,000 --> 00:11:28,160
Speaker 3: worthy of the story or worthy of the character and

229
00:11:28,240 --> 00:11:30,880
Speaker 3: something that again we take a lot of pride in,

230
00:11:30,920 --> 00:11:34,640
Speaker 3: and again we think those partnerships where we have and

231
00:11:34,679 --> 00:11:38,040
Speaker 3: we find that match with passion and interest in going

232
00:11:38,040 --> 00:11:41,440
Speaker 3: and telling these stories inside of this medium in a

233
00:11:41,440 --> 00:11:44,400
Speaker 3: way that hasn't been done before, is really the best

234
00:11:44,440 --> 00:11:48,160
Speaker 3: formula and something that again we know there's a lot

235
00:11:48,160 --> 00:11:50,079
Speaker 3: of audience interest in and a lot of folks that

236
00:11:50,120 --> 00:11:53,280
Speaker 3: are always watching to make sure that we hit that bar.

237
00:11:53,520 --> 00:11:56,120
Speaker 3: So it's something we certainly take a lot of pride

238
00:11:56,160 --> 00:11:59,760
Speaker 3: in internally, and then with our partners who we feel like,

239
00:12:00,880 --> 00:12:03,200
Speaker 3: you know, we spend so much time up front before

240
00:12:03,200 --> 00:12:06,280
Speaker 3: we decide to make a game with a partner that

241
00:12:06,400 --> 00:12:08,680
Speaker 3: you know, we try to make sure as best we

242
00:12:08,800 --> 00:12:11,760
Speaker 3: can that there's that match right where you have that passion,

243
00:12:11,880 --> 00:12:14,160
Speaker 3: you have that capability to go and do something that

244
00:12:14,240 --> 00:12:18,920
Speaker 3: is really going to match consumer expectations for whatever story

245
00:12:18,960 --> 00:12:19,360
Speaker 3: it is.

246
00:12:19,440 --> 00:12:20,439
Speaker 4: But we we.

247
00:12:20,440 --> 00:12:23,200
Speaker 3: Think that is critical to this whole thing and certainly

248
00:12:23,240 --> 00:12:25,960
Speaker 3: something that we focus a lot on in our partnerships.

249
00:12:29,320 --> 00:12:31,920
Speaker 1: We'll be back with more from Sean after this break,

250
00:12:39,960 --> 00:12:43,080
Speaker 1: and we're back with Sean Shopta, head of Disney's Gaming.

251
00:12:44,640 --> 00:12:47,599
Speaker 1: How much internally with the rest of Disney do you

252
00:12:47,679 --> 00:12:49,839
Speaker 1: all work together on things that could be put into

253
00:12:49,920 --> 00:12:52,240
Speaker 1: a game to feedback to other divisions.

254
00:12:52,240 --> 00:12:54,240
Speaker 2: One example, I have Dreamlike Valley.

255
00:12:55,360 --> 00:12:57,560
Speaker 1: There was an addition to the game at one point,

256
00:12:57,559 --> 00:13:01,720
Speaker 1: one of the Star Pass It had Disney Parks tie

257
00:13:01,760 --> 00:13:03,640
Speaker 1: in and there were all the different things you could

258
00:13:03,640 --> 00:13:06,040
Speaker 1: get that were items that were specific that you might

259
00:13:06,080 --> 00:13:08,040
Speaker 1: know from Disney Parks, like the trash.

260
00:13:07,760 --> 00:13:10,960
Speaker 2: Cans that have a cult following surrounding them.

261
00:13:11,160 --> 00:13:12,920
Speaker 1: So how much you all work And that's obviously is

262
00:13:12,920 --> 00:13:14,720
Speaker 1: a very specific case and it was tied to it,

263
00:13:14,760 --> 00:13:17,360
Speaker 1: but one hundred year anniversary there were also items that

264
00:13:17,400 --> 00:13:18,720
Speaker 1: came into the game tied to that.

265
00:13:18,960 --> 00:13:21,480
Speaker 2: So that's one game. That's one specific situation.

266
00:13:21,520 --> 00:13:23,560
Speaker 1: But how much you will work with other divisions, like

267
00:13:23,679 --> 00:13:25,760
Speaker 1: if we can get this in here organically and it

268
00:13:25,800 --> 00:13:28,200
Speaker 1: ties to parks somehow or this, what can we do

269
00:13:28,240 --> 00:13:29,480
Speaker 1: and how much do you all talk about that?

270
00:13:30,200 --> 00:13:32,760
Speaker 3: Yeah, that's another great question, and look, it's something we do.

271
00:13:33,080 --> 00:13:36,480
Speaker 3: We do focus on. We are constantly talking to partners

272
00:13:36,520 --> 00:13:40,199
Speaker 3: internally about our games, about things that are coming not

273
00:13:40,360 --> 00:13:42,360
Speaker 3: just in game, but to your point, things that are

274
00:13:42,360 --> 00:13:44,960
Speaker 3: happening elsewhere in the company, whether it's in theme parks

275
00:13:45,080 --> 00:13:48,000
Speaker 3: or the film division, and yes, we are certainly conscious

276
00:13:48,000 --> 00:13:51,240
Speaker 3: of where there's opportunity to bring things into our experiences

277
00:13:51,280 --> 00:13:54,160
Speaker 3: from other parts of the company. Obviously we've done that

278
00:13:54,320 --> 00:13:57,319
Speaker 3: historically incredibly well as a company from a film perspective,

279
00:13:57,320 --> 00:14:00,000
Speaker 3: where we launch a great movie and then there's downstream

280
00:14:00,160 --> 00:14:04,920
Speaker 3: consumer products, there's games, there's books, there's other things. Games

281
00:14:04,960 --> 00:14:07,920
Speaker 3: is really hopefully for us starting to be another place

282
00:14:07,960 --> 00:14:09,960
Speaker 3: that we can see a lot of great things from

283
00:14:09,960 --> 00:14:12,560
Speaker 3: other parts of the company, to your point, and something

284
00:14:12,600 --> 00:14:15,559
Speaker 3: that yes, we are consciously doing and something that we

285
00:14:16,000 --> 00:14:18,640
Speaker 3: get excited about when there's opportunity to bring other parts

286
00:14:18,679 --> 00:14:20,400
Speaker 3: of the company into our game experiences.

287
00:14:20,520 --> 00:14:21,400
Speaker 4: It's certainly exciting.

288
00:14:23,080 --> 00:14:25,000
Speaker 1: With the launch of a Rift in Time, which is

289
00:14:25,040 --> 00:14:28,360
Speaker 1: the expansion update for Dreamlin Valley this week, I want

290
00:14:28,400 --> 00:14:32,920
Speaker 1: to know if you already have reactions, any numbers, anything

291
00:14:32,960 --> 00:14:34,680
Speaker 1: you can use about the number of people have joined,

292
00:14:34,720 --> 00:14:37,000
Speaker 1: because this week was also when it left Free to

293
00:14:37,040 --> 00:14:40,520
Speaker 1: Play came out of data, so what you guys are

294
00:14:40,520 --> 00:14:42,160
Speaker 1: seeing on the back end right now, There.

295
00:14:42,720 --> 00:14:45,640
Speaker 3: Yeah no specific numbers yet other than all of the

296
00:14:45,760 --> 00:14:48,000
Speaker 3: emails and techs I've been getting in the last week

297
00:14:48,000 --> 00:14:51,720
Speaker 3: are very positive, both internally from our marketing team from

298
00:14:51,800 --> 00:14:55,080
Speaker 3: game Loft. The stuff we've heard so far is incredibly positive,

299
00:14:55,600 --> 00:14:57,920
Speaker 3: and to your point, that was something that we've been

300
00:14:58,640 --> 00:15:01,280
Speaker 3: really focused on as we made this transition, and so

301
00:15:01,400 --> 00:15:03,680
Speaker 3: far the feedback from what we've we've heard has been

302
00:15:03,880 --> 00:15:06,800
Speaker 3: incredibly positive. But it's something that we're certainly we're certainly

303
00:15:06,800 --> 00:15:10,080
Speaker 3: paying close attention to given where we've been, you know,

304
00:15:10,200 --> 00:15:12,560
Speaker 3: with soft launch and the audience that we had built

305
00:15:13,120 --> 00:15:14,080
Speaker 3: on one platform.

306
00:15:14,120 --> 00:15:15,280
Speaker 4: Obviously you're always.

307
00:15:15,000 --> 00:15:16,600
Speaker 3: Conscious of what it's going to mean when you bring

308
00:15:16,640 --> 00:15:18,720
Speaker 3: it to a different space and so but so far,

309
00:15:18,760 --> 00:15:22,520
Speaker 3: to answer your question, it's been incredibly positive and a

310
00:15:22,520 --> 00:15:25,200
Speaker 3: lot of good feedback from not only our internal group,

311
00:15:25,240 --> 00:15:27,480
Speaker 3: but just folks in the community that we have community

312
00:15:27,480 --> 00:15:28,520
Speaker 3: that we've we've heard.

313
00:15:28,360 --> 00:15:32,280
Speaker 1: From with it leaving free to play, I know when

314
00:15:32,280 --> 00:15:34,400
Speaker 1: that news was announced that it was not going to

315
00:15:34,440 --> 00:15:37,000
Speaker 1: be free to play as it had originally been intended

316
00:15:37,000 --> 00:15:40,320
Speaker 1: in that there were remarks about why that decision was made.

317
00:15:40,320 --> 00:15:42,960
Speaker 1: Can you break down a little bit where that decision

318
00:15:43,000 --> 00:15:45,960
Speaker 1: making process starts when Disney is not the one in

319
00:15:46,040 --> 00:15:48,040
Speaker 1: charge of making all of these decisions, and how that

320
00:15:48,080 --> 00:15:51,120
Speaker 1: partnership with game left and how you will come to

321
00:15:51,160 --> 00:15:53,800
Speaker 1: a decision like that and how much Disney has control

322
00:15:53,840 --> 00:15:54,600
Speaker 1: over that decision.

323
00:15:55,480 --> 00:15:58,920
Speaker 3: Yeah, so we're obviously, you know, involved from every phase,

324
00:15:59,040 --> 00:16:01,160
Speaker 3: right so pre developed men as we talk about what

325
00:16:01,200 --> 00:16:04,880
Speaker 3: we want to make, you know, platforms, business model, those

326
00:16:04,880 --> 00:16:08,080
Speaker 3: things are something that we're certainly involved in all the

327
00:16:08,080 --> 00:16:10,200
Speaker 3: way through. And this is a good example of one

328
00:16:10,280 --> 00:16:14,080
Speaker 3: that given the nature of this experience, you know, as

329
00:16:14,120 --> 00:16:17,320
Speaker 3: you reference from free to play, you know, we were

330
00:16:17,320 --> 00:16:19,320
Speaker 3: involved all the way through and something that we've been

331
00:16:19,360 --> 00:16:22,520
Speaker 3: working with game Loft on timing, messaging, making sure that

332
00:16:22,560 --> 00:16:26,280
Speaker 3: we don't alienate users and those things. So yeah, it's

333
00:16:26,320 --> 00:16:29,360
Speaker 3: something that we're intimately involved in, even though ultimately this

334
00:16:29,440 --> 00:16:32,640
Speaker 3: is game lost game, but we certainly are involved in

335
00:16:32,680 --> 00:16:35,400
Speaker 3: these decisions, and you know, we were aligned in how

336
00:16:35,400 --> 00:16:37,360
Speaker 3: we went about this and how we brought these different

337
00:16:37,400 --> 00:16:38,400
Speaker 3: experiences to market.

338
00:16:40,360 --> 00:16:42,360
Speaker 1: So we are at the end of the year here,

339
00:16:42,400 --> 00:16:44,200
Speaker 1: so it's a good time to always ask about what

340
00:16:44,240 --> 00:16:48,800
Speaker 1: your biggest goals are for twenty twenty four, mostly anticipated.

341
00:16:48,280 --> 00:16:51,320
Speaker 2: Titles and roles in tease anything coming up.

342
00:16:52,680 --> 00:16:53,560
Speaker 4: Yeah, I think that.

343
00:16:53,600 --> 00:16:56,280
Speaker 3: Look, we were coming off of an incredibly great year

344
00:16:56,440 --> 00:16:59,440
Speaker 3: to the point on products we've just talked about, we're

345
00:16:59,520 --> 00:17:03,880
Speaker 3: super excited about Outlaws with with another massive title on

346
00:17:03,960 --> 00:17:07,119
Speaker 3: the Star Wars front. That's such a cool story, something

347
00:17:07,160 --> 00:17:09,679
Speaker 3: that we've spent a ton of time with them developing.

348
00:17:10,480 --> 00:17:12,399
Speaker 3: I'd say as we think about what's big and what

349
00:17:12,400 --> 00:17:14,760
Speaker 3: we're excited about just coming into the beginning or first

350
00:17:14,800 --> 00:17:16,880
Speaker 3: part of next year, I'd say Outlaws is really high

351
00:17:16,880 --> 00:17:20,120
Speaker 3: on our list. To your point on Dreamlight Valley, it's

352
00:17:20,119 --> 00:17:22,840
Speaker 3: something that hopefully we continue to build and that that

353
00:17:22,920 --> 00:17:27,000
Speaker 3: audience base continues to stay as invested as they've been

354
00:17:27,080 --> 00:17:29,480
Speaker 3: as we continue to bring new content to that experience.

355
00:17:30,560 --> 00:17:33,479
Speaker 3: You know, I think we're just our slate in general.

356
00:17:33,520 --> 00:17:36,120
Speaker 3: I would say Jenny has never been healthier, and it's

357
00:17:36,119 --> 00:17:39,560
Speaker 3: something that our team spend a ton of time on.

358
00:17:39,760 --> 00:17:41,400
Speaker 3: You know, as you know, this is a many year

359
00:17:41,480 --> 00:17:44,399
Speaker 3: process to bring these products to life and to even

360
00:17:44,480 --> 00:17:48,560
Speaker 3: source opportunities like Blade and others where you know, to

361
00:17:48,640 --> 00:17:53,560
Speaker 3: my earlier point, you know, finding that right formula is

362
00:17:53,560 --> 00:17:56,400
Speaker 3: something that takes time, and so we're we're really excited

363
00:17:56,440 --> 00:17:58,680
Speaker 3: about the work we've done these last number of years

364
00:17:58,720 --> 00:18:01,440
Speaker 3: to build the slate that you're starting to see come

365
00:18:01,480 --> 00:18:03,600
Speaker 3: to market these last couple of years. And then to

366
00:18:03,640 --> 00:18:07,360
Speaker 3: your point, what's coming in the future is in our

367
00:18:07,400 --> 00:18:09,320
Speaker 3: mind never been, never.

368
00:18:09,160 --> 00:18:09,960
Speaker 4: Been more exciting.

369
00:18:10,000 --> 00:18:11,600
Speaker 3: We have a lot more to come, and we think

370
00:18:11,640 --> 00:18:13,600
Speaker 3: in this way we're kind of just getting started in

371
00:18:13,600 --> 00:18:18,199
Speaker 3: the space. So very excited about Outlaws, and you know,

372
00:18:18,240 --> 00:18:19,960
Speaker 3: a lot more that's going to come out over time

373
00:18:19,960 --> 00:18:21,520
Speaker 3: that we're excited to tell the world about.

374
00:18:23,480 --> 00:18:26,359
Speaker 1: I know one division of the company dealt with a

375
00:18:26,400 --> 00:18:30,920
Speaker 1: lot of conversations about generative AI over the past year

376
00:18:31,000 --> 00:18:33,560
Speaker 1: because of the two different Hollywood strikes, and now there's

377
00:18:33,600 --> 00:18:37,080
Speaker 1: conversation amount of potential strike next year among video game

378
00:18:37,160 --> 00:18:39,080
Speaker 1: voice actors. So I want to get your current thoughts

379
00:18:39,160 --> 00:18:42,120
Speaker 1: on generative AI. It has a place everywhere in the world.

380
00:18:42,200 --> 00:18:44,159
Speaker 1: Right now, they're conversations about how it should be used,

381
00:18:44,160 --> 00:18:46,280
Speaker 1: how it shouldn't be used. But I know this is

382
00:18:46,280 --> 00:18:48,840
Speaker 1: a point that's already being raised as people prepare for

383
00:18:49,240 --> 00:18:50,960
Speaker 1: potential conversations about this next year.

384
00:18:51,880 --> 00:18:54,640
Speaker 4: Yeah. Look, we're not immune to that conversation, right.

385
00:18:54,680 --> 00:18:56,920
Speaker 3: I think it's just it's just people that are in

386
00:18:57,000 --> 00:19:00,000
Speaker 3: the space, whether it's games or any other parts of entertainment.

387
00:19:00,200 --> 00:19:02,960
Speaker 4: To your point, you know, generative generative.

388
00:19:02,440 --> 00:19:06,119
Speaker 3: AI as a hot topic. You know, I won't pretend

389
00:19:06,200 --> 00:19:09,080
Speaker 3: to be you know, the most knowledgeable. I don't work

390
00:19:09,119 --> 00:19:11,119
Speaker 3: in the space. I know there's so much there that

391
00:19:11,240 --> 00:19:14,200
Speaker 3: is yet to come, but certainly we're eyes wide open

392
00:19:14,240 --> 00:19:17,159
Speaker 3: on the potential on what it's going to mean for

393
00:19:17,200 --> 00:19:19,760
Speaker 3: game development in the future. Certainly things are already being

394
00:19:19,840 --> 00:19:23,680
Speaker 3: leveraged today in development and something that I think again

395
00:19:23,800 --> 00:19:24,240
Speaker 3: is going to.

396
00:19:24,200 --> 00:19:27,280
Speaker 4: Evolve over time. And I read what you read.

397
00:19:27,359 --> 00:19:29,000
Speaker 3: There's a lot of you know, a lot of things

398
00:19:29,040 --> 00:19:31,159
Speaker 3: happening in this space, and there's clearly a lot of

399
00:19:31,200 --> 00:19:33,720
Speaker 3: potential for what this is going to mean for all industries,

400
00:19:33,760 --> 00:19:37,480
Speaker 3: games included. But you know, for for us, for where

401
00:19:37,480 --> 00:19:40,360
Speaker 3: we are today, you know, it's not something that's hugely

402
00:19:40,359 --> 00:19:43,719
Speaker 3: impactful to our day to day. We again think that

403
00:19:43,760 --> 00:19:47,320
Speaker 3: will continue to evolve over time as development gets more efficient,

404
00:19:47,760 --> 00:19:51,359
Speaker 3: as the technology continues to evolve, and we'll stay close

405
00:19:51,400 --> 00:19:54,439
Speaker 3: to our partners and learn how they are leveraging and

406
00:19:54,520 --> 00:19:57,960
Speaker 3: what it's going to mean for things in the future.

407
00:19:58,040 --> 00:20:00,880
Speaker 3: But right now we're we're kind of taking the same

408
00:20:00,960 --> 00:20:03,080
Speaker 3: view most people are and just in seeing how this

409
00:20:03,200 --> 00:20:03,919
Speaker 3: is going to evolve.

410
00:20:06,160 --> 00:20:08,280
Speaker 1: As you look at just the past couple of years

411
00:20:08,280 --> 00:20:11,800
Speaker 1: of where gaming has come from, where it's started, what

412
00:20:11,880 --> 00:20:13,760
Speaker 1: do you see coming in the next few years, and

413
00:20:13,840 --> 00:20:18,159
Speaker 1: how do you see the relationship between gaming and a

414
00:20:18,240 --> 00:20:21,600
Speaker 1: wider audience changing. Do you see that you still as

415
00:20:21,720 --> 00:20:25,000
Speaker 1: you know, younger generations grow up become the older generations,

416
00:20:25,320 --> 00:20:28,840
Speaker 1: the perception around gaming, what gaming is, how it fits

417
00:20:28,840 --> 00:20:32,080
Speaker 1: into a larger entertainment culture, what you're seeing right now,

418
00:20:32,200 --> 00:20:33,760
Speaker 1: and what you think you might see in the next

419
00:20:33,800 --> 00:20:36,240
Speaker 1: couple of years, just based on changes in the past

420
00:20:36,240 --> 00:20:36,800
Speaker 1: few years.

421
00:20:37,680 --> 00:20:39,280
Speaker 3: Yeah, well, look, I think if you just look at

422
00:20:39,280 --> 00:20:42,120
Speaker 3: where the world has gone even currently right to your point,

423
00:20:42,240 --> 00:20:46,280
Speaker 3: what younger consumers are engaged most with and where they're

424
00:20:46,320 --> 00:20:49,359
Speaker 3: spending their time, you know, you see a dramatic shift

425
00:20:49,480 --> 00:20:54,280
Speaker 3: right from linear entertainment into games. I think even within games,

426
00:20:54,320 --> 00:20:58,280
Speaker 3: we're seeing a clear evolution into user generated content into

427
00:20:58,280 --> 00:21:01,840
Speaker 3: live service experiences. We obviously do a lot with Epic

428
00:21:01,880 --> 00:21:04,840
Speaker 3: and Fortnite where we license ip into that experience, so

429
00:21:04,840 --> 00:21:07,560
Speaker 3: we've we've seen a lot of really exciting things happen there.

430
00:21:08,480 --> 00:21:11,240
Speaker 3: Things happening in the uef N space inside of Fortnite

431
00:21:11,280 --> 00:21:13,879
Speaker 3: is really interesting to us as we think about creative

432
00:21:13,920 --> 00:21:17,439
Speaker 3: islands and those things, those are those are interesting shifts

433
00:21:17,480 --> 00:21:21,400
Speaker 3: to us where you know, we we get super excited

434
00:21:21,480 --> 00:21:24,959
Speaker 3: rightfully about Big Box, Triple A console games like Spider

435
00:21:24,960 --> 00:21:25,720
Speaker 3: Man and Avatar.

436
00:21:27,080 --> 00:21:28,280
Speaker 4: But we also think.

437
00:21:28,080 --> 00:21:31,320
Speaker 3: The market is really shifting to a place of live service,

438
00:21:31,440 --> 00:21:36,760
Speaker 3: user generated content, those things that again drive that social behavior,

439
00:21:36,880 --> 00:21:40,520
Speaker 3: drive that continued engagement, and we see a lot of

440
00:21:40,520 --> 00:21:42,760
Speaker 3: benefit in that and to the point, you know, we

441
00:21:42,800 --> 00:21:45,639
Speaker 3: really enjoy the things we're doing inside Fortnite, which I

442
00:21:45,640 --> 00:21:49,639
Speaker 3: think is a tell to that younger generation and that

443
00:21:49,760 --> 00:21:54,159
Speaker 3: sort of expectation of content, our ability to create, our

444
00:21:54,160 --> 00:21:58,560
Speaker 3: ability to participate in a way that's much more engaging

445
00:21:58,680 --> 00:22:01,639
Speaker 3: than maybe things have been historically. And so that's certainly

446
00:22:01,680 --> 00:22:04,920
Speaker 3: something that we have paid close attention to and will

447
00:22:04,960 --> 00:22:08,280
Speaker 3: continue to as we think about bringing our content to

448
00:22:08,400 --> 00:22:12,400
Speaker 3: different platforms, making sure that we're continuing to evolve our

449
00:22:12,440 --> 00:22:15,359
Speaker 3: storytelling and experiences as that market shifts.

450
00:22:15,400 --> 00:22:17,360
Speaker 4: To your point, so.

451
00:22:17,359 --> 00:22:19,520
Speaker 3: I'd say those are those are things that we are

452
00:22:19,920 --> 00:22:22,720
Speaker 3: paying close attention to and getting a lot of good

453
00:22:22,760 --> 00:22:26,000
Speaker 3: feedback from the things that we're doing inside of those

454
00:22:26,040 --> 00:22:26,960
Speaker 3: experiences today.

455
00:22:28,840 --> 00:22:30,960
Speaker 1: And then, in your opinion moment, what do you think

456
00:22:31,000 --> 00:22:34,640
Speaker 1: the biggest obstacle is to getting to certain untapped markets

457
00:22:34,880 --> 00:22:35,520
Speaker 1: for gaming?

458
00:22:36,800 --> 00:22:38,919
Speaker 3: Yeah, I mean, for a long time, we've obviously heard

459
00:22:39,119 --> 00:22:41,520
Speaker 3: and talked a lot, you know, Southeast Asia and emerging

460
00:22:41,560 --> 00:22:44,520
Speaker 3: markets where there's a ton of demand for games. There's

461
00:22:44,560 --> 00:22:47,679
Speaker 3: a lot of folks that play games. You know, you

462
00:22:47,800 --> 00:22:50,840
Speaker 3: still have some device restrictions and things that make bringing

463
00:22:51,000 --> 00:22:55,520
Speaker 3: certain content to markets challenging. You know, I think that

464
00:22:55,520 --> 00:22:58,080
Speaker 3: that world is going to continue to evolve of being

465
00:22:58,080 --> 00:23:02,159
Speaker 3: able to bring really high fidelity experiences to mobile devices,

466
00:23:02,200 --> 00:23:05,320
Speaker 3: having them be accessible in different parts of the world

467
00:23:05,480 --> 00:23:08,840
Speaker 3: at scale. You know, I think there's still work to

468
00:23:08,880 --> 00:23:12,040
Speaker 3: do there. Again, there's a lot of demand for this content,

469
00:23:12,080 --> 00:23:14,040
Speaker 3: and there's gamers all over the world as we know,

470
00:23:14,520 --> 00:23:17,560
Speaker 3: but I think making sure that you know, the technology

471
00:23:17,600 --> 00:23:21,080
Speaker 3: and the ability to bring these really robust experiences to

472
00:23:21,240 --> 00:23:26,040
Speaker 3: different devices in different markets is still something that is

473
00:23:26,400 --> 00:23:28,960
Speaker 3: is you know, in need of some work to be

474
00:23:29,000 --> 00:23:32,240
Speaker 3: able to scale and really you know, build velocity in

475
00:23:32,280 --> 00:23:33,480
Speaker 3: some of those parts of the world.

476
00:23:33,520 --> 00:23:36,439
Speaker 4: But you know, I think we've made to this to

477
00:23:36,480 --> 00:23:37,960
Speaker 4: the same point. I think we've made a lot of

478
00:23:38,000 --> 00:23:39,080
Speaker 4: progress in that regard.

479
00:23:39,119 --> 00:23:41,080
Speaker 3: You know, we certainly focus on it as a company

480
00:23:41,560 --> 00:23:43,680
Speaker 3: with our partners as we think about where we can

481
00:23:43,680 --> 00:23:47,080
Speaker 3: bring our stories, where we can bring these different experiences.

482
00:23:47,160 --> 00:23:50,399
Speaker 3: So I'd say that you know that there's still work

483
00:23:50,440 --> 00:23:53,840
Speaker 3: to do from a device perspective. There's still questions on

484
00:23:54,080 --> 00:23:56,360
Speaker 3: you know, how you can bring a lot of those

485
00:23:56,400 --> 00:24:00,439
Speaker 3: experiences and scale them in certain markets. But you know,

486
00:24:00,560 --> 00:24:03,000
Speaker 3: I think that's where we'll continue to focus and look

487
00:24:03,040 --> 00:24:05,600
Speaker 3: to bring our stories and worlds to over time.

488
00:24:07,119 --> 00:24:09,520
Speaker 1: Do you have a favorite trend in gaming at this

489
00:24:09,640 --> 00:24:13,800
Speaker 1: moment and a not so different least favorite trend in gaming?

490
00:24:14,359 --> 00:24:16,439
Speaker 4: Yeah, I mean, I think it's probably the same answer.

491
00:24:16,480 --> 00:24:19,000
Speaker 3: I think user generated content right where I think it's

492
00:24:19,000 --> 00:24:22,800
Speaker 3: incredibly exciting and scary at the same time as you

493
00:24:22,880 --> 00:24:26,560
Speaker 3: think about a premium IP holder like us, we think

494
00:24:26,560 --> 00:24:29,439
Speaker 3: it's a really interesting space and an important one, but

495
00:24:29,520 --> 00:24:30,960
Speaker 3: obviously one that.

496
00:24:30,640 --> 00:24:34,040
Speaker 4: That needs to be done right and has its downsides

497
00:24:34,080 --> 00:24:34,520
Speaker 4: as we know.

498
00:24:35,640 --> 00:24:38,200
Speaker 3: You know, given you know, given the amount of engagement

499
00:24:38,240 --> 00:24:40,800
Speaker 3: there is and the tools now that are in place

500
00:24:40,840 --> 00:24:44,400
Speaker 3: across these platforms to go and create individual content, is now,

501
00:24:44,600 --> 00:24:47,359
Speaker 3: you know, never been better and only getting better over time.

502
00:24:47,880 --> 00:24:49,199
Speaker 4: So I'd say it's the same answer.

503
00:24:49,200 --> 00:24:52,919
Speaker 3: I think I'm equally excited and equally concerned as we

504
00:24:52,960 --> 00:24:55,359
Speaker 3: think about what it means for Disney down the road,

505
00:24:55,400 --> 00:24:58,560
Speaker 3: but certainly something we're we're paying close attention.

506
00:24:58,280 --> 00:25:02,560
Speaker 1: To Is there anything else you want people to know

507
00:25:02,720 --> 00:25:04,360
Speaker 1: about Disney Gaming right now?

508
00:25:06,160 --> 00:25:08,280
Speaker 3: Yeah, I just I think the big thing for us

509
00:25:08,359 --> 00:25:14,119
Speaker 3: again is really being authentic to this medium, and you know,

510
00:25:14,160 --> 00:25:17,520
Speaker 3: the things that we do are incredibly thoughtful to bring

511
00:25:17,680 --> 00:25:22,960
Speaker 3: these authentic experiences. Original storytelling is paramount, you know, again,

512
00:25:23,080 --> 00:25:27,960
Speaker 3: finding the right partners. It's not just about us trying

513
00:25:28,000 --> 00:25:30,399
Speaker 3: to make as many games as we can make. It

514
00:25:30,440 --> 00:25:32,680
Speaker 3: really is about making the right games with the right

515
00:25:32,720 --> 00:25:36,399
Speaker 3: partner and making sure that everything we do do is

516
00:25:36,480 --> 00:25:39,560
Speaker 3: done at a level of quality that really is on

517
00:25:39,640 --> 00:25:42,320
Speaker 3: the level of the IP and really brings these things

518
00:25:42,960 --> 00:25:45,679
Speaker 3: to market in the most meaningful way.

519
00:25:46,040 --> 00:25:47,320
Speaker 4: To your earlier point.

520
00:25:47,119 --> 00:25:49,080
Speaker 3: There's a lot of demand and there's a very high

521
00:25:49,160 --> 00:25:51,160
Speaker 3: bar for the stories we tell, and so we want

522
00:25:51,200 --> 00:25:53,720
Speaker 3: to make sure that we do them well. So I

523
00:25:53,840 --> 00:25:57,560
Speaker 3: just say, look, you know, our focus is really about quality.

524
00:25:57,640 --> 00:26:01,040
Speaker 3: It's really about building really great partsnerships with all of

525
00:26:01,080 --> 00:26:03,520
Speaker 3: the great partners we currently work with, and hopefully more

526
00:26:03,520 --> 00:26:05,080
Speaker 3: that we don't that we're going to work with in

527
00:26:05,119 --> 00:26:08,880
Speaker 3: the future. And we're we you know, to my earlier point,

528
00:26:08,920 --> 00:26:11,600
Speaker 3: I think we're really just getting started in this space.

529
00:26:11,680 --> 00:26:14,160
Speaker 4: We think there's a meaningful opportunity to do more.

530
00:26:14,720 --> 00:26:16,760
Speaker 3: Uh and some of the points I made earlier about

531
00:26:16,760 --> 00:26:21,240
Speaker 3: what's happening from a younger consumer perspective user generated content,

532
00:26:21,320 --> 00:26:25,160
Speaker 3: as we think about live service experiences, those are really

533
00:26:25,160 --> 00:26:27,960
Speaker 3: interesting things to us and spaces that we're going to

534
00:26:27,960 --> 00:26:31,600
Speaker 3: continue to invest in and think about how to bring

535
00:26:32,280 --> 00:26:35,240
Speaker 3: our I P into in the most authentic ways, authentic

536
00:26:35,280 --> 00:26:36,120
Speaker 3: ways possible.

537
00:26:37,480 --> 00:26:38,280
Speaker 4: But we're excited.

538
00:26:38,359 --> 00:26:40,240
Speaker 3: We think there's a lot more to come from from

539
00:26:40,320 --> 00:26:43,119
Speaker 3: us in games, and you know, we're we're just happy

540
00:26:43,160 --> 00:26:44,119
Speaker 3: with with what we're up to.

541
00:26:45,800 --> 00:26:47,879
Speaker 1: Well, thank you so much for your time today, Sean.

542
00:26:48,359 --> 00:26:50,639
Speaker 1: You don't need to get me a new update for

543
00:26:50,720 --> 00:26:52,439
Speaker 1: Dreamly Valley soon. I'm going to be stick on this

544
00:26:52,480 --> 00:26:53,080
Speaker 1: one for a while.

545
00:26:54,960 --> 00:26:56,360
Speaker 4: We love that you're a fan.

546
00:26:56,480 --> 00:26:59,840
Speaker 3: Hopefully it's meeting your expectations, and you know, thank you

547
00:27:00,040 --> 00:27:00,600
Speaker 3: and for the time.

548
00:27:00,680 --> 00:27:01,680
Speaker 4: Really really appreciate it.

549
00:27:08,000 --> 00:27:09,920
Speaker 1: Thank you for joining us for this week's episode of

550
00:27:09,960 --> 00:27:13,199
Speaker 1: Variety Strictly Business. You can find new episodes weekly on

551
00:27:13,320 --> 00:27:14,280
Speaker 1: Apple Podcasts.