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US – Disney to shelve slot deals for Star Wars and Marvel

By - 30 October 2013

In a move that could affect a host of slot manufacturers across the spectrum of gambling, Disney has said it wants to phase out slot machines using Star Wars and Marvel branding in the US in line with its family friendly policies.

Last October Disney bought all the rights to LucasFilm  the film studio behind Star Wars for $4.05bn (£2.51bn) whilst its buyout of Marvel in 2009 has given it control of characters such as Iron Man, the Hulk, Captain America.

A Disney spokeswoman told the NY Times the decision to ‘phase out’ slot machines linked to its recently acquired brands had been in place for a while but was only now being made public. “Marvel discontinued plans to initiate or renew slot machine licensing arrangements as part of its integration with Disney,” the spokeswoman said. “The handful of remaining licence agreements have expiration dates within the next few years.”

The spokesperson said that a similar policy would be adopted for slots using branding from LucasFilm. Whilst no new slots would be made with such branding relating to the films, it would take several years for branded slot machines to be removed from the market altogether.

International Game Technology signed a contract with Lucasfilm in July 2003 allowing it to create gaming machines based on the Star Wars movie series. A series of games have since been released. Scientific Gaming also managed to secure a lucrative and exclusive licensing deal with Lucas Film to develop and release a new online slot based on the popular 1977 sci-fi movie.

In terms of Marvel, WMS Gaming, now owned by Scientific Gaming, released an Iron Man slot at this year’s G2e in Las Vegas.

Disney is also trying to prevent the expansion of gambling in Florida where its Walt Disney World resort is based.

Andrea Finger of the Walt Disney World resort said: “We oppose the legalisation of so-called destination resort casinos because this major expansion of gambling is inconsistent with Florida’s reputation as a family-friendly destination.”

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