Disney Infinity Game Lifts Interactive Group Into Black

Captain Jack Sparrow, Mr. Incredible and the rest of the cast of the Disney Infinity game helped lift the entertainment giant’s long-struggling interactive group into the black.

The Burbank entertainment company said its interactive unit reported a second-quarter operating profit of $14 million, compared with a loss of $54 million a year earlier. Revenue rose 38 percent to $268 million for the quarter ending on March 29.

The company reported record earnings for its second quarter. Disney’s net income of $1.9 billion jumped 27 percent from the prior year’s earnings of $1.5 billion. Revenue rose 10 percent to $11.6 billion, compared with $10.6 billion a year ago.

Disney Infinity, a game that combines toys with interactive play, was among the top-selling games of 2013, according to the NPD Group. Its retail success, together with the growing Japan mobile business, buoyed results for the Disney division.

Disney Interactive said it plans to introduce a new version of the game, built around its roster of Marvel superheroes.

The company’s gains in the console market came as the division laid off hundreds of employees and narrowed its focus. The head of the division, Jimmy Pitaro, talked to Re/code about the retrenchment and plans for the future in an interview earlier this month.

This article originally appeared on Recode.net.

Will you support Vox’s explanatory journalism?

Most news outlets make their money through advertising or subscriptions. But when it comes to what we’re trying to do at Vox, there are a couple of big issues with relying on ads and subscriptions to keep the lights on:

First, advertising dollars go up and down with the economy. We often only know a few months out what our advertising revenue will be, which makes it hard to plan ahead.

Second, we’re not in the subscriptions business. Vox is here to help everyone understand the complex issues shaping the world — not just the people who can afford to pay for a subscription. We believe that’s an important part of building a more equal society. And we can’t do that if we have a paywall.

So even though advertising is still our biggest source of revenue, we also seek grants and reader support. (And no matter how our work is funded, we have strict guidelines on editorial independence.)

If you also believe that everyone deserves access to trusted high-quality information, will you make a gift to Vox today? Any amount helps.

One-Time Monthly Annual

$5/month

$10/month

$25/month

$50/month

Other

$

Yes, I'll give $5/month

Yes, I'll give $5/month

We accept credit card, Apple Pay, and Google Pay. You can also contribute via