Disney Exec Discusses Game Success and Focus on Transmedia
By Karla Robinson
October 31, 2012
October 31, 2012
- “Where’s My Water?” started as a $1 iPhone-only game with just 80 levels. It has since expanded to multiple operating systems, added around 500 levels and seen more than 100 million downloads worldwide.
- The game’s protagonist Swampy has become a merchandise sensation and will star in the upcoming animated series “Swampy’s Underground Adventures.” Bart Decrem, SVP and GM of Disney Mobile Games, talks about the game’s evolution into transmedia.
- “We put out the simplest version of the game, with just enough levels to gauge players’ response,” he explains. “This allowed us to get to market very quickly, but one of the happy side effects was that it forced us to really focus on nailing the core of ‘Where’s My Water?’ — which led to a better experience for the players.”
- “We then used community feedback and analytics to get a really deep understanding of what was working for our gamers, where they got stuck, and to keep refining the gameplay.”
- “This is such an important platform for the company,” Decrem adds. “A whole new generation of Disney guests is growing up with their iPhones, iPads or Android devices as a primary screen — not to mention huge new markets like China and India opening up for the company. We have a huge opportunity to bring existing Disney characters and stories to life on this magical new canvas, but also to create new Disney characters here — characters that hopefully will stand the test of time.”
- The game has had spinoffs with other Disney characters like Phineas and Ferb.
- The upcoming “Swampy’s Underground Adventures” series follows Swampy the alligator “in his quest for acceptance, friendship, and adventure outside of the bathtub,” Decrem explains. “We created 12 episodes that are launching weekly on Disney.com and Disney’s Network on YouTube. There are also plans to premiere the shorts on Disney Channel beginning in November.”
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