Walt Disney has made a commitment to better focus on kids and families online through a new team called Disney Online Studios.
The new team, who are part of
Disney Online will be launching a broad range of games, virtual worlds and online communities some of which will feature original Disney characters and stories, in addition to original content created specifically for the online environment.
Paul Yanover, executive vice president of Disney Online comments, ?Online games and community continue to be a key focus of our entertainment content. As the number one ranked site for kids and families, Disney.com reaches more than 27 million unique visitors a month, and far and away the top reason guests come to our site is for games and other interactive online entertainment.?
The Disney Online Studios team will be headed up by Steve Parkis, who was promoted to vice president of the newly formed group. Initial focus for the team will be expanding existing virtual worlds and social communities such as
Pirates of the Caribbean Online,
Toontown and
Disney Fairies, which will re-launch later in 2008 with a virtual world.
?Since the company?s inception, Disney has specialized in creating worlds where characters interact to tell amazing stories. We believe this new team will continue that tradition of bringing Disney characters and franchises to life,? said Yanover.