Disney Interactive to lay off 'several hundred people' - report

News out of The Wall Street journal suggests that Disney Interactive, the video game arm of the global media conglomerate, is planning to lay off "several hundred" staff -- primarily in its Playdom social games division. The company has seen success with Disney Infinity, its action figure-based console video game franchise, but less so with its large social game division. In November, Disney pushed out Interactive co-president John Pleasants, former EA exec and CEO of Playdom up till its acquisition by Disney, which paid $563 million (with a possibility of $200 million more in payouts) for the company in 2010. This follows Disney's shutdown of LucasArts' internal development following its acquisition of the company in early 2013. The new cuts were first reported by the Wall Street Journal and later independently confirmed by Variety. Gamasutra has reached out to Disney Interactive to find out more and will update this story if details are forthcoming. UPDATE: A Disney spokesperson told Gamasutra that the company does not comment on "rumors and speculation."