Buena Vista Games Opens Nintendo-Specific Studio

Officials from Buena Vista Games have announced the formation of a new Salt Lake City-based video game development studio, Fall Line Studio, dedicated solely to creating games for Nintendo platforms. Based in Salt Lake City, Fall Line Studio’s stated focus is to develop games based on Disney’s characters, television shows and entertainment franchises, as well as creating new intellectual properties for the Nintendo DS and Wii formats. The studio will focus on small-team, creative projects and will operate as a sister studio to Buena Vista Games’ Avalanche Software (Tak and the Power of Juju) studio, also in Salt Lake City. Scott Novis, previously general manager of Rainbow Studios (Motocross Madness) will serve as vice president and general manager of the new studio. The formation of the new studio is the latest in a long line of expansions by Buena Vista Games, which has seen the acquisition of British developer Climax Racing, the purchase of the Turok comic book license and partnerships with Tetsuya Mizuguchi's Q Entertainment and Kingdom Hearts: Chain Of Memories developer Jupiter Corporation. Despite obvious overlap in the demographics, the set-up of Fall Line Studio represents one of the most significant investments in Nintendo formats by either Buena Vista or Disney. How the formation of the new studio will affect the licensing of Disney properties to other companies is unclear, with the company presumably intending to continue to develop multiformat titles externally. “This studio will be one of our centers of creative excellence and it gives us the ability to fully capitalize on our properties and expand our market share on Nintendo platforms,” said Graham Hopper, senior vice president and general manager of Buena Vista Games. “Scott Novis brings the perfect mix of team building and relevant business experience to the position of studio head for Fall Line Studio."