After Shutdown, Disney Infinity Dev Reopens To Make A Cars 3 Game

Last year, Disney cancelled its Disney Infinity series and closed developer Avalanche Software. Now, the studio has reopened as a Warner Bros.-owned developer and is working on a Cars 3 game.

John Blackburn, a former Disney executive, will lead the new version of Avalanche Software, while Warner Bros. gets the rights to Avalanche's Octane game engine; it will be used to create the Cars 3 game.

"We are excited to once again be working with the Avalanche team, who have a deep understanding of the Disney Pixar DNA, and a history of translating our stories into great gaming experiences," Disney consumer products vice president Kyle Laughlin said in a statement.

No specifics about Avalanche's Cars 3 game were announced, but Laughlin said it is coming to consoles. Avalanche Software, not to be confused with Just Cause developer Avalanche Studios, made Cars 2: The Video Game, which sold "several million copies" when it came out in 2011, Warner Bros. said today.

Pixar's movie Cars 3 comes out this June, so it seems likely that Avalanche's game would launch around then, though this is not confirmed.

It was reported last year that around 300 people lost their jobs when Disney closed Avalanche. A Warner Bros. representative declined to share a specific headcount figure, but said the new version of Avalanche employs more than 100 people.

Other video game studios owned by Warner Bros. include NetherRealm (Mortal Kombat, Injustice), Monolith (Middle-earth: Shadow of Mordor), Rocksteady Studios (Batman: Arkham series), and TT Games (Lego series), among others.