Sony Online Entertainment’s Platform Publishing and Disney Online in association with Buena Vista Games announced an agreement that is scheduled to bring Disney’s Toontown Online, the first massively multiplayer online (MMO) game designed for kids and families, to retail stores in the US.
The family-friendly online title is priced at $19.99, which includes a two-month subscription to the game service. Additionally, Platform Publishing has secured a license to also create an online version of Toontown specifically for video game consoles.
“Platform Publishing is working with Disney Online to make Toontown available in the places where families usually shop. Toontown is a breakthrough game that has introduced MMOs to the online family audience. Now we will be introducing the game to a whole new audience who may not have downloaded it in the past. Additionally, we will begin working with Disney on the potential to create Toontown versions for online-enabled game consoles,” said Sony Online Entertainment chief financial officer and senior vice president business development John Needham.
“This is a great opportunity for us to partner with Sony Online Entertainment, a leader in the retail MMO space. We feel that our trusted brand and unique game offering that appeals to the entire family is a natural fit for the retail marketplace. And as the connected console marketplace develops, we want to be among the first MMO family titles made available,” stated Disney Online vice president premium products Steve Parkis.
Disney’s Toontown Online is an award-winning multiplayer online game filled with non-stop play, ever-changing adventure and irreverent fun. Players create their own cartoon characters (Toons) and join forces to save the world from the Cogs, humorless business robots who are attempting to turn the colorful, happy world of Toontown into a dark metropolis of corporate monotony. It’s always growing, always changing and a wild world of cartoon adventures.
The PC retail version of Disney’s Toontown Online will come with CD-Rom, game manual and a Cog poster in the box, along with access to a bonus in-game item.
Toontown has been designed primarily for children ages 8 to 12, but is enjoyed by kids of all ages. Player feedback reveals that many families are playing the game together, with parents enjoying the game as much as their children. Unique in the game industry, players are evenly split between boys and girls.