Saturday will see Disney dive deep into the world of gaming and esports with the debut of D|XP, a daily summer programming block dedicated to the industry that runs from 9p-3a on Disney XD, showcasing a diverse lineup of games, publishers, events and personalities across the landscape of both entertainment gaming and esports, courtesy of content produced in collaboration with ESPN, Disney Digital Network and its Maker creators, IGN, Attack Media, Warner Bros. Television Group’s Blue Ribbon Content, Banger Films, ESL and VICE’s Waypoint. Series are set to include: Polaris Primetime, a weekly one-hour playthrough gaming and variety show hosted by Jimmy Wong and Strawburry17; Parker Plays hosted by Parker Coppins; and Polaris: Player Select, a “greatest hits” compilation series featuring top videos from YouTube stars from Disney Digital Network’s bench of Maker creators, including Jacksepticeye, Luzugames, Strawburry17, LordMinion777 and LDShadowLady.
Cynopsis spoke with Marc Buhaj, SVP, Programming / General Manager, Disney XD Worldwide, about reasons behind the move, the big picture for the test run, and what we can expect from the lineup.
Buhaj on launching D|XP: We are very excited about this as it represents an opportunity for us to reach beyond our target demo while still staying on brand. Everybody plays games. So we are looking at this as a test and I can’t wait to see what sticks as we embrace the gaming scene. The challenge for us, in this case, has been to lock in rights to use the IP, music, etc., which is something some other outlets don’t have to do. That said, we have been successful and I think gaming and esports fans will be extremely happy with the results and we’ll have more news to announce over the next couple of weeks that will make them even happier.
On programming: We’ve got some really interesting formats in the mix, from the relatively unknown to rising stars. Parker Plays, for example, is one that I am looking forward to seeing how our audiences react to, while another show, The Attack – from the folks who used to work on Attack of the Show over at G4 – that will offer a live, streamed feel. I’m also curious to see how some of our leagues and teams do, as we’ve got some interesting IP there. Over the next 24-48 hours, we’ll be able to reveal some of the details about who we are linking up with, but we’ve got some of the leaders in their categories.
On goals: The goal for me is to continue to expand the genre. I want to make sure we’ve got some diverse storytelling coming out. I want to make sure that people understand that games aren’t straight-ahead first-person shooter games. That is important to me. This all evolved because of us picking up one or two pilots but we very quickly realized that you’d be on an island if we just had a single show here or there. Gaming isn’t an island, so it was important for us to create a destination for viewers instead.
