Tuesday, 27 September 2011
The Walt Disney Company is putting Apple’s iPad at the heart of its gaming strategy, starting with the launch of interactive toys for Pixar movie Cars 2.
The range, called Cars 2 Appmates, is the company’s first to blend physical toys with a free iPad app.
The tablet’s screen has been designed to respond to sensors built into the base of each toy car. Children can move the cars about within the movie’s fictional Radiator Springs world via the app.
The company will monetise the iPad-based toy range by selling the physical toy cars. However, it is planning to develop further levels for the game, which will be paid-for apps.
Jeff Jones, Disney Interactive Media Group VP and general manager of digital games, EMEA , said the app marks the first step in the company’s digital road map. “We will be looking to develop the same model across a range of Disney movies and we have patents pending on the technology that drives it,” he said.
The app, aimed at children aged five years and over, will initially roll out in the US and UK from next week (3 October). It will be available to download via the Apple store and disneyStore.co.uk, while six physical car toys will be available to buy in packs of one or two from £12.99 both online and in-store.
Disney Mobile’s general manager Bart Decrem said the Apple tablet is a core component of children’s story-telling. “iPad is becoming a critical canvas for the next generation of storytelling, and with Appmates we’re bringing Disney characters to life in a way never previously imagined.”
Disney worked with children’s games specialist Spinmaster on the product range.
