Star Wars Helps Disney Infinity 3.0 & Battlefront Bring In Millions
Star Wars fever has been a major success story for Disney Interactive and Electronic Arts as tie-ins with the classic movies and Star Wars: The Force Awakens.
According to Wedbush Securities analyst Michael Pachter, Electronic Arts has sold approximately 6 million Star Wars Battlefront games in November and an additional 6 million in December, which has brought in approximately $660 million.
According to Pachter’s estimates, Disney has sold over $200 million of Disney Infinity Star Wars games and toys this fall. That has catapulted Disney ahead of the Skylanders franchise and the new Warner Bros LEGO Dimensions game in the lucrative toys-to-life category. Pachter estimates Skylanders and LEGO Dimensions each generated $150 million in sales this fall.
John Vignocchi confirmed that Disney Infinity was officially the number one franchise in the toys-to-life category after a screening of The Force Awakens in Los Angeles on December 17.
According to Randy Nelson, content manager of Sensor Tower’s store intelligence platform, mobile games EA’s Star Wars: Galaxy of Heroes ($186,000), Konami’s Star Wars: Force Collection ($56,000) and Disney’s Star Wars: Commander–Worlds in Conflict ($43,000) generated over $285,000 in just the first day after the launch of the new film.
“There’s no doubting that the estimated $350 million marketing budget for The Force Awakens has played a role in escalating buzz around all things Star Wars,” Nelson says.
SuperData Research CEO Joost van Dreunen says the positive response of the movie also has had a positive effect on the sales of Star Wars Battlefront, Disney Infinity Star Wars, and the various mobile titles, precisely because Star Wars is among the most recognizable franchises.
“On the licensing side, it allows Disney to demand a higher minimum guarantee as part of the various licensing agreements,” van Dreunen says.
All together Star Wars has been a major success story for all games companies connected to Star Wars and expect plenty more content in the future following the success of these games.
What do you think of the success of Star Wars video games in 2015?