Disney to Buy 'Halo' creator Wideload Games

Walt Disney Co. agreed to buy Wideload Games Inc. to develop and produce video games, a week after its acquisition of Marvel Entertainment Inc.

Alexander Seropian, Wideload's founder and chief executive officer, will join Disney Interactive Studios as vice president of creative. Seropian founded Bungie Software and helped create the "Halo" video-game franchise, Glendale, California-based Disney Interactive said today in a statement.

Terms weren't disclosed. Wideload, which will remain based in Chicago, is making a family console game scheduled for release next year, according to the statement. The company will also create titles for Disney that target a "broad audience."

Revenue at Disney Interactive Media Group, which includes Disney Interactive Studios, fell 20 percent to $113 million in its fiscal third quarter.

The $4 billion acquisition of Marvel announced last week will give Disney the rights to more than 5,000 characters to market in movies, theme parks, stores and on television. Marvel shareholders have yet to approve the transaction.

Disney rose 32 cents, or 1.2 percent, to $26.22 at 11:10 a.m. in New York Stock Exchange composite trading. Shares of the Burbank, California-based company had gained 14 percent this year before today.