3. Games, games, games
I can’t say this enough: Iger needs to expand Disney’s presence in video games, and he needs to start yesterday.
The Mouse House has had success recently
licensing its properties to outside game developers, while
Iger in 2019 remarked that Disney hasn’t “been particularly good at the self-publishing side,” adding, “We’ve just decided that the best place for us to be in that space is licensing and not publishing.”
But Iger may end up regretting that play, as the gaming sector
continues to grow while the film and TV business contracts. Disney will see a limited financial upside from its licensing strategy, while publishing games itself would open a lucrative new revenue stream — provided the product is successful, of course.
It would probably be unwise for Disney to try to
build a games studio on its own; therefore, if there’s one last acquisition Iger should make to close out his tenure, it’s an existing game publisher. Indeed, other execs have
reportedly pushed Iger to consider buying video game publisher Electronic Arts, which has a longstanding licensing deal with Disney to create and publish “Star Wars” games.
Such a purchase would come with plenty of risk, but if Iger wants to build Disney into a truly modern media conglomerate, remaining without an in-house gaming division seems like a far greater risk.
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