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Disney's Avalanche

Making Hannah Montana games and proud of it.

Projects at Avalanche or any other satellite studio have to be integrated with the massive Disney marketing machine. "Any project we do must be considered from the point of view of the entire Disney corporation," Dewsnup tells Eurogamer. "It's added pressure. Even more people check our games than they do at other developers. And it goes to all the other departments. "John Lasseter in movies? He sees everything."

At any time, Avalanche is working on three projects, most of them handed down from management in California, most of whom they've never met. The movie Bolt, for example, was announced in summer of 2007 and is going to be released on 28th November this year. The multiplatform game will be released on 1st November, almost a month in advance. Dewsnup and Day say Bolt has been in production for approximately a year and a half.

There are limitations to being a part of that marketing plan, but they make sense from a business perspective. "Disney stockholders don't want risk, they want returns. A corporation like that is simply much less likely to try something that isn't proven. Let's say you're going to make a game based on Pirates of the Caribbean. There's going to be a limited area for what you can do because they don't want to damage their IP."

While the infrastructure seems imposing, it doesn't mean they only make games based on movies. Before Avalanche was purchased, their portfolio had a variety of genres: sports, fighters, and non-Disney platformers.

Tak, one of Avalanche's original IPs.

New intellectual property can be submitted to Disney and if it fits, it can be accepted. Before Disney purchased Avalanche, Avalanche developed Tak: The Great Juju Challenge and Tak 2: The Staff of Dreams. They submitted the character of Tak to Nickelodeon, who made it a brand and later a TV show. Dewsnup is convinced that's one of the reasons Disney purchased them.

Adult gamers and especially game reviewers are starting to question the status of videogames as toys, but for those working at Avalanche, the question is perhaps ironic. The games they make are marketed that way and they have to think of them as such. "We get a bad rap," Dewsnup laments half-heartedly. "All the reviewers hate reviewing our games. I haven't seen one site that is dedicated to reviewing them for the purpose of helping parents choose. They don't review them with that in mind." Day adds without frustration: "If we get an '8' on anything at all, we pretty much consider that our '10'."

Still, they aren't too bothered by it, and perhaps they have good reasons for not being bothered by what reviews say about what they make. "My 11-year-old daughter always thought I was cool because I worked for Disney," says Dewsnup with a smile. "But when she found out I helped make the Hannah Montana game, she became star-struck."