Disney Interactive Faces Reorganization and Lays Off 200

In a move that, according to those in the know, appeared almost expected, Disney Interactive Media Group trimmed their staff of some 200 employees this past Monday. Also a casualty of the company's vast restructuring of its digital media was Propaganda Games, the Vancouver-based development company responsible for the Tron:Evolution game.

It would appear significant financial losses in this arena plus the addition of two new co-Presidents last fall have contributed to the surge of the company's reorganization. In fact, industry insiders predict the recent layoffs could be the first of multiple rounds as the digital media group focuses on cutting costs and increasing profits.

The bottom line? The acquisition of Playdom, a group that develops games for Facebook and MySpace, last summer in conjunction with the company-wide reorganizational efforts indicates an increased focus on mobile and online gaming efforts. Add in the fact that some console games, such as Tron:Evolution and Tangled:The Video Game failed to reach the one million sales mark, and it would appear the group will be focusing less efforts and money on console gaming.

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