DISNEY SLASHES 700 DIGITAL WORKERS FROM PAYROLL

One might have thought that the Walt Disney Co., with all its digital entertainment resources, including its Pixar, Marvel, and Disney Studios talent, would be a sure bet to lead in the field of online and videogames. But it has never been much more than an also-ran in that arena. Even successful game companies that it has acquired in recent years have failed to produce profits for Disney. (An exception, and perhaps the only one, is “Disney Infinity,” a videogame that was launched last August and has sold 3 million copies thus far.) Its losses since 2008 have steadily risen to nearly $1 billion. After recording its first two consecutive profitable quarters recently, Disney Interactive is expected to slip back to a loss during the current quarter (it lost $87 million for the year), apparently exhausting the patience of Disney executives, who announced on Thursday that they are laying off 700 workers, representing more than a quarter of their staff. Although cuts had been expected, that figure amounts to a corporate blood bath and will result in the closure of its operations in Chicago, New Jersey, Colorado, South Korea and Hyderabad. In a statement, the company said, “These actions were difficult but necessary given our long-term strategy focused on sustainable profitability and innovation.”