Interview: Talking Disney Infinity 3.0 with Producer Mat Solie

A couple of weeks back I got to check out Disney Infinity 3.0, this year’s instalment of Disney’s huge Toys to Life game. If you haven’t already, you can check out my impressions of the game’s Star Wars playsets and the Toy Box mode. While I was playing the game I got to chat with the game’s producer, Mathew Solie, and ask him a few questions. I got an interesting insight into the development process of the game, and what it’s like working on a tightly-protected property like Star Wars. Not everything fit into my previous previews, but I felt it was too interesting to throw away, so here are some more words for your reading pleasure!

With Star Wars being the main focus of 3.0, the Infinity teams got to work really closely with Lucasfilm. There’s an interesting process of finding a balance between what works best for gameplay and what stays faithful to the source material. For example Darth Vader couldn’t be sprinting around in the game because it undermined his presence, so instead he has a menacing power walk. To make up for this, he has the highest Force Jump out of all the other Star Wars characters. These discussions go into incredibly small details as well, that a lot of people probably wouldn’t even notice – Mat pointed out that the X-Wing I was using to take out the Death Star fired faster than they do in the films, for balance reasons. “It was sort of a game conceit thing, because that way you can really get it going with the lasers. That’s what’s been fun about working with Lucas, and Marvel, and all those guys, because those groups get that. They’re just like ‘Oh yeah, that’s cool, it’s a game. You’ve already done right by us with the lightsaber combat.'”

I was curious about what this process is like when dealing with The Force Awakens. Details on the upcoming new Star Wars episode are under tight lock and key, so what’s it like working on a game based on something so secretive? “It’s like with anything, we just try to be the best partners we can.” Mat explains. “You know, just making sure we’re respectful of the material. It goes with everything, with Lucas, and Marvel, and Pixar, and Disney. And that’s part of the reason we’re allowed to do what we do, because we’re very respectful of the source material and all the questions they may have about how we handle stuff.” Even Mat doesn’t know much about Episode VII because testing of the playset was done in a secure area. “For the first time ever I’ll be surprised when I see a gigantic blockbuster! [laughs]”

One of the big changes to the game’s payment model is how power discs are being handled. Power discs are small game pieces that unlock extra game content like vehicles and weapons. In the past these were sold in blind bags, where you’d get two random discs without knowing what was inside. It meant that a lot of the time you got doubles and didn’t get the ones you were after, and had to resort to organising trades or paying more for them on eBay. In 3.0 they’re sold in themed packs of four that show you exactly what you’re getting. “Yep, we finally listened to all you guys and they are not blind packs any more”. This was a surprising change because the random pack system would no doubt have been a huge money maker. “At first it sounded like a cool idea, you know, with chase discs that you have, and we wanted to encourage trading and community like that, and then everyone was like ‘I just wanna know what I’m buying!’ So yeah, I’m glad you guys are digging that – everyone I’ve shown them to has been like ‘Ohhh, THANKYOU!’ – we listened!” Mat couldn’t give an exact number on how many there’ll be in total, but confirmed that there’s more unannounced content to come, “figure-wise, playset-wise, and power disc-wise”.

With the opportunity to talk to the game’s producer, I had to ask about the one thing everybody wants to know about – the characters. How do the team decide on the characters to add to the game? Mat opens with a laugh. “Oh, dude! Every time we talk about figures – you would love this! We just get in constant debates. It’s like ‘Oh, let’s get Darkwing Duck!’ ‘But wait, do you want him before Goofy?’ ‘OH, good point! But… what about King Mickey?’ ‘King Mickey!? King Mickey’s awesome, he’d be a great character to have! …but we’ve already got two Mickey Mouses!’ ‘Ok, fair enough…’ It’s literally just all of us in a room debating about what kind of figures we want in the game. We try to first find out if there’s interesting gameplay around them, if there’s something cool going around the company with that character – synergy! Not to get too corporate on you! And then just in general, do people WANT that character? So it’s a sort of multi-level debate that happens with every character we add which is great… but it’s also TERRIFYING, at the same time! [laughs]”. And what about playsets? “Oh, god, playsets are even more cutthroat! But again, it’s super fun because we always debate about what we should do”

Fan demand is another big factor in deciding on characters and playsets. Stitch and Merida were added in Disney Infinity 2.0 for this reason, as was Olaf in 3.0. “So you’ve been following ‘My Disney Infinity’, right? That insanity?” My Disney infinity is a campaign being run on social media where fans can suggest characters to be added to the series later on. “I’ve seen a lot of Darkwing Duck… Peter Pan, surprisingly”. One thing people have been curious about is whether a franchise having all or most of its playable characters in the game (like Aladdin, for example) will prevent it from getting a playset down the line. Mat confirms this isn’t the case, and it’s “totally possible” for franchises like these to get a playset somewhere down the line. “That’s one of those things where we listen to fans, and we’re always constantly debating like ‘Oh, should we do this for this group, or this character’ or what have you.” So go on and make some noise so I can get a Big Hero 6 playset!

Disney Infinity 3.0 launches September 3^rd in Australia, on Wii U and non-Nintendo platforms.