Disney has teamed up with Creative England to launch a development fund for games studios and technology start-ups that can come up with a new to inspire families to lead healthier lifestyles.
A total of £95,000 has been set aside for the project – the ‘Disney Healthy Living Digital Project’ – and Disney is making its entire IP available to participating developers.
That means studios can pitch ideas involving any of the classic Disney properties, such as Mickey Mouse, but also Pixar, Marvel and Star Wars characters.
“We know developers would love to work with those stories,” said Disney Interactive developer Matt Carroll. “Hopefully they can, for this project, do something a little different, something that isn’t the usual run-of-the-mill game that could be great commerically and hopefully a change for good as well.”
Developers can use the famous Disney characters
Developers are being tasked to come up with something that engages whole families on both a group and individual basis. The finished product could be anything from a traditional game or app to wearable technology or augmented reality.
“We’re interested in seeing how people use technology in different ways, who combine that with those stories [of our IP] to create something really compelling,” Carroll added.
Interested developers have until April 20th to submit their ideas here. Three applications will be selected by Disney and Creative England at the end of stage one, with the successful trio each receiving a £5,000 grant to prepare a proof of concept.
Stage two will involve a live pitch and Q&A with a judging panel, who will decide which of the three shortlisted pitches will receive the £80,000 development fund.
Disney is hoping to have a final product released by February 2016.
