Some leaked images hint that Disney and Square Enix could be teaming up for yet another new gaming project - this time a Super Smash Bros. style brawler featuring characters like Mickey Mouse, Woody from Toy Story, and Thanos from the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Disney and Square Enix have famously worked together on the beloved Kingdom Hearts series, which combines worlds and characters from the House of Mouse’s greatest franchises and elements of the Final Fantasy series.
With blockbuster properties like Marvel and Star Wars to go along with the Disney Princesses and Pixar, Disney has licensed a vast wealth of video games over the past few years - and this looks to continue well into 2023 thanks to the impending releases of titles like Star Wars Jedi: Survivor and Marvel’s Spider-Man 2. Kingdom Hearts 4 is also in the works at Square Enix, ensuring that the fan-favorite collaboration between Disney and Final Fantasy will continue well into the future. As it turns out, this might not be the only thing these two giants of the gaming and entertainment industries are working on.
Earlier today, a Reddit user by the handle of MarkMero_ posted a series of images to r/Switch suggesting that a Disney-themed platform fighter could be in development under the working title of Disney Domination. The images include a title screen featuring Disney Castle being swarmed by a shadowy force, a loading screen of what appears to be Mickey Mouse in his hooded Kingdom Hearts attire, a Ghost Rider-like skeletal figure who may be the game’s central antagonist, and Woody from Toy Story preparing for battle. Not much else is shown, but the title screen features copyrights for Marvel, Lucasfilm, and Pixar among the expected Disney and Square Enix ones.
While Super Smash Bros remains the golden standard when it comes to platform-based crossover fighters, there have been several attempts to copy the long-running franchise’s formula over the past few years. In 2021, Nickelodeon All-Star Brawl pitted cable cartoon icons like SpongeBob SquarePants and the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles against each other. A year later, Warner Bros. partnered with lesser-known developer Player First Games for MultiVersus, a free-to-play multiplayer brawler featuring characters from properties like DC Comics and Game of Thrones.
If these leaked images are to be believed, then it looks like Disney might be finally throwing its own massive hat into the growing Smash-style platform fighting arena after years of speculation and wishful thinking from fans. With a laundry list of instantly recognizable characters from Pixar, Marvel, and Star Wars to build a playable roster from, Disney Domination could very well give Super Smash Bros. a run for its money if it is indeed in development at Square Enix.
Source: MarkMero_ (via Reddit)