By Gary Symons
TLL Editor in Chiev
Disney has hired top Apple gaming executive Mark Bozon to help guide its move into the metaverse.
Bozon most recently worked as games creative director for Apple Arcade, the tech giant’s game subscription service. On May 20 this year Bozon tweeted he was leaving Apple, saying, “I’m headed to an absolute dream job.” We now know that dream job is at Disney, where he was hired by Mike White, Disney’s SVP of Next Generation Storytelling & Consumer Experiences.
That division is essentially Disney’s ‘skunk works’, a section of the company that looks at the future, and prepares Disney for entry into categories where its entertainment offerings make sense. Right now, that division is primarily interested in the metaverse.
White himself was recently appointed to the post to lead Disney’s development and coordination of its metaverse strategy. In that role White dual-reports to both Kareem Daniel, chairman of Disney Media & Entertainment Distribution, and Josh D’Amaro, chairman of Disney Parks, Experiences & Products.
At the time, Disney CEO Bob Chapek enthusiastically endorsed the idea of Disney diving headfirst into the metaverse experience.
In a memo to staff, Chapek described the metaverse as “the next great storytelling frontier” to be explored, and argued it is “the perfect place to pursue our strategic pillars of storytelling excellence, innovation, and audience focus.”
“Teams across the company are exploring this new canvas, and I have been blown away by what I’ve seen,” he said.
As Disney’s VP of Next Generation Storytelling creative experiences, Bozon will be responsible for leading the creative vision for the group and to turn that strategy into executable plans. Bozon’s main task right now is to build a multidisciplinary team that will work with Disney businesses across gaming, film, TV, toys, parks and more to deliver interconnected consumer experiences.
Additionally, Bozon and his team are tasked with innovating and incubating “bold ideas” and serving as a clearinghouse for creative Next Generation Storytelling concepts.
According to Disney, because the term “metaverse” means different things to different people, the company under White’s lead has coalesced efforts under the Next Generation Storytelling banner and defined a strategy focused on creating “new canvases for storytelling and audience engagement” spanning digital, physical and virtual experiences.
Prior to joining Apple in June 2010, Bozon worked as a freelance game designer and producer and was IGN’s Nintendo editor.
His hire helps bridge a critical gap for Disney, which is developing the technical expertise to build and operate metaverse operations.
A metaverse is typically defined as an online, three-dimensional world where people can game, work and communicate in a virtual environment, often using VR headsets. It also extends to augmented reality, in which digital creations are brought into the real world, and viewed through AR glasses or devices, like those currently under development at Apple.
It’s not a huge leap to see that Disney could also excel at building out interactive digital worlds using that same content.
However, Disney has not done as well when it comes to digital, online technology. While its Disney+ streaming service has been very successful, Disney was much less successful with its $500 million acquisition of digital video creator network Maker Studios, or with the online video game Club Penguin.
Also, unlike many other studios, Disney no longer publishes its own video games, choosing to license its properties to game makers.
Because gaming is such a major part of the metaverse experience, Disney can be seen as lacking in one of the core competencies needed to succeed in a metaverse deployment.
In February, around the time White was retested to head the metaverse strategy, one Wall Street analyst speaking on a Disney conference call to discuss earnings, noted that software development has been one area in which the company has struggled. In reply, Chapek said that making technology a core competency of the company would be “top of mind” as Disney expands.
“We realize that it’s going to be less of a passive-type experience,” Chapek said. “And this is a very top-of-mind thing for us because we are continuing over time to augment our skills and the types of people that we attract into the Walt Disney Company to reflect the aggressive and ambitious technology agenda that we have.”
That’s where Bozon comes in. As a veteran executive leading the hugely successful Apple Arcade, Bozon knows about game development and deployment literally from the inside out. Under White’s leadership, Bozon is expected to help build a team that combines Disney’s storytelling genius with the technological and strategic vision needed for a successful deployment of online services and games.
Chapek says that team will be key in taking Disney on its next evolution of its now century-old tradition of storytelling, bringing the company’s various universes, like Star Wars and Marvel, into an expansive, interactive online experience.
“Today, we have an opportunity to connect those universes and create an entirely new paradigm for how audiences experience and engage with our stories,” Chapek said. “We realize that it’s going to be less of a passive-type experience, and this is a very top-of-mind thing for us because we are continuing over time to augment our skills and the types of people that we attract into the Walt Disney Company to reflect the aggressive and ambitious technology agenda that we have.”