Disney looks beyond 25 billionth App Store download toward mobile future

26.03.2012

At the center of that experience in Where's My Water? is Swampy, an alligator who's awfully fond of taking showers. Players have to direct water past obstacles and to the pipes leading to Swampy's shower to successfully solve a puzzle.

Since the initial release of Where's My Water? last fall, Disney has rolled out regular updates, adding more puzzles to the mix. A January update added puzzles from the perspective of Cranky, Swampy's nemesis in the regular game, where players direct contaminated water to kill the algae covering Cranky's food. Earlier this month, Where's My Water? added 20 new free levels, giving the game a total of 200 puzzles for players to solve.

Expect more Where's My Water content to come, Decrem says, including new characters. Disney plans to spend more energy localizing the app--it's already been a top download in 79 countries. And later this year, Swampy will go beyond iOS devices when he appears in a 12-episode Web series. (In fact, in a , Disney Mobile senior game design Tim FitzRandolph says that his secret hope is that one day "you'll be able to meet Swampy at Disneyland.")

Decrem says Disney Mobile is hoping to create one more new original character this year while it continues to focus on existing characters as well. The goal, according to Decrem is "not to put out a game because there's a movie coming out, but to put out a game because the team is excited about it."

To hear Decrem tell it, Disney is already excited about the potential of the smartphone market, which some analysts believe will grow to 1 billion smartphones by 2013. "For a generation of guests at Disney, this is their first screen," Decrem said. "They don't have a computer at home and they may not have a TV. [Mobile] is a massive opportunity to reach people."