Disney Partners With ‘Planet Coaster’ Developer for New Video Game
The proverbial ‘white whale’ video game for Disney Parks enthusiasts may actually be coming to fruition.
Frontier Developments announced on Thursday “a collaboration with Disney for [a] new video game.” The British games house shared in a press release that “the game will be fully funded by Frontier and will build upon the Company’s extensive experience and proven capabilities as a leader in the Creative Management Simulation (CMS) genre.”
Photo: Frontier Developments
“We are delighted to announce this collaboration with Disney, which further reinforces our clearly defined strategy of developing and nurturing world-class creative management simulation game franchises,” Frontier Developments CEO Jo Cooke said via press release.
“Our mission with this game is to connect a passionate creative community of players with one of the world’s most iconic and beloved brands, and I can’t wait to see what our talented teams will create with this amazing opportunity.”
Frontier Developments Announces New Game with Disney
Photo: Frontier Developments
That’s the extent of the currently available information. However, the involved parties here signal a pretty ambitious—and long-mused over—experience.
Frontier Developments is the company behind the popular Planet Coaster and Planet Zoo video games. For those unfamiliar, they’re incredibly thorough and immersive theme park design and management simulators.
Photo: Frontier Developments
For those with a more antiquated frame of reference, Planet Coaster is essentially an evolution of the classic Roller Coaster Tycoon series. In fact, Frontier developed Roller Coaster Tycoon 3.
If—and that’s a big if—this game is a Planet Coaster-style creative management simulator using Disney Parks attractions and properties as a base, this could be the single greatest video game of all time.
That’s hyperbolic and subjective, of course, but imagine building and managing your own version of Disneyland, Tokyo DisneySea, or even Disney’s America right on your own computer!
Frontier’s press release indicates that it will self-fund and publish the game, which “will draw on Disney’s iconic portfolio of IP.”
‘Planet Zoo’ (Photo: Frontier Developments)
Disney, of course, owns no shortage of cherished brands, and Frontier hasn’t yet indicated which of the Mouse’s IPs it will use. However, given the company’s history with theme park simulators, it stands to reason that the Disney Parks will feature prominently.
Only time will tell what Frontier’s project actually is, but this is an exciting development nonetheless.
Disney’s Digital Ambitions
Photo: Epic Games
Video games appear to be an area of particular interest for contemporary Disney. The Mouse announced a $1.5 billion investment in Fortnite parent company Epic Games in 2024, commencing development on “an all-new games and entertainment universe” to “further expand the reach of beloved Disney stories and experiences.”
Though functionally a video game, this project will ultimately serve as a digital crossroads for Disney’s various facets.
Photo: Disney
Upon taking the mantle earlier this year, Disney CEO Josh D’Amaro spoke about the virtual universe’s potential, stating, “It could be a new film premiering there. It could be the place that you decide to book your next cruise vacation. You could participate with the Super Bowl in some way there.”
There will also be real-world ways in which you can engage with this digital frontier. We’re seeing a glimpse of this right now with the Millennium Falcon: Smugglers Run | Fortnite collaboration.
Photo: Disney Parks Blog
As always, be sure to keep an eye on MickeyBlog for the latest on all things Disney.
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Feature Image Credit: Disney/Frontier
