Lightning McQueen and the rest of the anthropomorphic autos from this summer’s “Cars 3” movie from Disney-Pixar will be revving their engines in a new console-based video game.
Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment will develop and publish the “Cars 3” video game, slated to be released sometime in 2017, under a pact with Disney Consumer Products and Interactive Media. The game will be developed by Avalanche Software, the game studio that Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment has re-established after Disney shut it down last year when it killed the Disney Infinity line.
The “Cars 3” title will be led by video-game vet John Blackburn, former head of Avalanche Software when it was under Disney’s wing, whose credits include originating the concept for Disney Infinity. As part of the deal with Disney, Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment obtained rights to Avalanche’s Octane development engine, which will be used for the “Cars 3” game.
The “Cars 3” movie, which Disney first announced in 2013, is slated to premiere June 16, 2017. Brian Fee, a storyboard artist on the first two “Cars,” is directing.
Disney-Pixar’s “Cars” franchise has pulled in more than $1 billion at the box office worldwide. Avalanche Software previously developed “Cars 2: The Video Game,” which sold several million copies in 2011.”The Avalanche talent and technology are a great addition to our group of outstanding developers, and we are excited for this ‘Cars 3’ game as well as all of the future games the team will create under John’s leadership,” said David Haddad, president of Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment.
Kyle Laughlin, senior VP of games, apps and labs for Disney Consumer Products and Interactive Media, added that the Avalanche team has “a deep understanding of the Disney-Pixar DNA, and a history of translating our stories into great gaming experiences.”
