Avalanche Software was a video game developer studio, founded in October 1995 by four lead programmers from Sculptured Software. The company had developed for every console platform since the Mega Drive/Genesis and Super NES days and has grown to a staff of over 100 since its inception. The company was headed up by CEO John Blackburn. Disney announced the closure of the studio on May 10, 2016.
History[]
As an independent studio, Avalanche Software was responsible for a number of video games and ports, notably creating Tak and the Power of Juju and the Tak franchise in conjunction with Nickelodeon.
In April 2005, Buena Vista Games (BVG), the video game publishing arm of The Walt Disney Company, acquired the Salt Lake City-based studio. BVG formed a new game studio, Fall Line Studio, in November 2006 to create Disney and new game titles for Nintendo DS and the Wii console. Disney Interactive Studios (DIS) merged Fall Line Studio into its sister studio, Avalanche Software, in January 2009.
DIS in October 2012 announced "Toy Box", a cross platform gaming initiative where Pixar and Disney characters will interact from a console game to multiple mobile and online applications. In January 2013, Avalanche Software unveiled the toys-to-life cross-platform game Disney Infinity based on Toy Story 3: The Video Game's "Toy Box" mode crossed with a toy line.