Disney Speedstorm

Disney Speedstorm is a free-to-play kart racing game with a roster composed of characters from various Disney properties, such as the Mickey and Friends, Pirates of the Caribbean, Monsters, Inc., Toy Story and Beauty and the Beast franchises, among others,{{cite web | url=https://screenrant.com/disney-speedstorm-beauty-beast-track-racer/ | title=Disney Racing Game Reveals Magical Beauty & The Beast-Inspired Track | website=Screen Rant | date=17 May 2022}}{{cite web | url=https://screenrant.com/pirates-caribbean-elizabeth-swann-disney-speedstorm-playable-character/ | title=Pirates of the Caribbean's Elizabeth Swann Joins Disney Speedstorm | website=Screen Rant | date=16 March 2022}}{{cite web | url=https://www.gamespot.com/articles/disney-speedstorm-shows-a-disney-mash-up-racer/1100-6507332/?ftag=CAD-01-10abi2f | title= Disney Speedstorm Shows A Disney Mash-up Racer | website=GameSpot | date=9 September 2022 | access-date=27 March 2023}}{{cite web | url=https://www.pockettactics.com/disney-speedstorm/characters | title= Disney Speedstorm characters | website=Pocket Tactics | date=13 March 2023 | access-date=27 March 2023}}{{cite web | url=https://www.nintendolife.com/guides/disney-speedstorm-characters-every-racer-revealed-so-far | title=Disney Speedstorm Characters - Every Racer Revealed So Far | website=Nintendo Life | date=13 March 2023 | access-date=27 March 2023}}{{cite web | url=https://www.gamespot.com/articles/disney-speedstorm-character-list-how-to-unlock-all-characters/1100-6512973/?ftag=CAD-01-10abi2f | title=Disney Speedstorm Character List - How To Unlock All Characters | website=GameSpot | date=18 April 2023 | access-date=21 April 2023}}{{cite web | url=https://www.nintendolife.com/news/2023/06/disney-speedstorms-toy-story-season-adds-new-racers-tracks-and-game-modes | title= Disney Speedstorm's Toy Story Season Adds New Racers, Tracks And Game Modes | website=Nintendo Life | date= 14 June 2023 | access-date=19 June 2023}} reimagined as race car drivers (referred to in-game as "Racers") in an in-universe arcade game also called Disney Speedstorm.

The gameplay is similar to Mario Kart.{{cite web | url=https://www.gamesradar.com/disney-meets-mario-kart-in-disney-speedstorm-coming-summer-2022/ | title= Disney meets Mario Kart in Disney Speedstorm coming Summer 2022 | website=GameSpot | date=10 February 2022 | access-date=18 April 2023}} Racers can drift to improve their cornering and charge their nitro boost, which can only be used when the boost meter full. Racers also get a small drift boost from long drifts (indicated by their tires glowing blue), which also gives them an extra boost charge. Racers can sideswipe other Racers to knock them aside, jump to reach higher grounds or dodge obstacles, perform aerial stunts off designated jumps for a small speed boost upon landing, and grind on designated blue rails to also gain nitro boost.

Racers can also pick up various power-ups, called "skills", by driving through sprites with the image of Arbee, the game's emotive AI mascot, on them. These skills include offensive weapons that stun Racers, shields that protect Racers from stuns, cloaks that make Racers intangible and invisible, nitro boost charges, rushes that provide sudden bursts of speed, and hacks that flip a Racer's screen, potentially confusing them. Skills can also be "charged" to cause different effects; for example, a charged shield allows a Racer to stun another Racer who drives into them, at the cost of not being protected from being stunned unless a normal shield, a cloak, or an invulnerability effect is already in effect. Offensive skills and hacks can also be used backwards behind Racers. The availability of the various skills depends on the Racer (except in "Single Skill" races, mentioned below); for example, some Racers can receive and use shields while others can receive and use cloaks. Finally, each Racer has a unique skill that provide benefits to only that Racer, with each unique skill having normal and charged variants.

Each Racer has a range of stats that affect their performance, including top speed, acceleration, handling, boost, and combat. The stats can be upgraded by levelling up Racers, which during the game's first six seasons of content updates, required spending various "upgrade parts" collected from single-player event races and PvP multiplayer, which were later replaced with a single currency called "upgrade coins" from the seventh season onwards.{{cite web|last=Watts|first=Steve|title=The Inexplicably Confusing Upgrade System In Disney Speedstorm Is Finally Being Overhauled|url=https://www.gamespot.com/articles/the-inexplicably-confusing-upgrade-system-in-disney-speedstorm-is-finally-being-overhauled/1100-6522075/|website=GameSpot |publisher=Fandom, Inc.|access-date=2024-04-10 |date=2024-03-22|df=mdy-all}} However, Racer upgrade levels are capped to certain levels depending on their star levels, which require collecting "Racer shards". Further stat boosts and other enhancements are provided by attaching "Crew Members" to a Racer, which feature images of various minor Disney characters on them. The Crew Members can only be applied to Racers of the same affiliated collections (franchises) as them, such as the Orange Bird serving as a Crew Member for Figment;{{cite web|last=Roseboom|first=Quinn|title=Five things in 'Disney Speedstorm' theme park fans will love |url=https://attractionsmagazine.com/disney-speedstorm-theme-park-fans/|website=Attractions Magazine|access-date=2023-04-23|date=2023-04-18|df=mdy-all}} with "Epic" rarity Crew Members being applicable to only one Racer.

The game includes various different single-player and multiplayer modes. Single-player modes include "Starter Circuit", a series of events that effectively serves as the game's "tutorial", limited events, which offer rewards for completing specific objectives or for getting a fast time on a leaderboard compared with other players online, "Season Tour", a limited-time campaign mode that changes each new content season, and "Tournaments", in which players race as a single Racer from either the Mickey and Friends franchise or a franchise that was featured in a previous season for a series of four races to earn points. Multiplayer includes ranked multiplayer, where players race to earn points to unlock tiers of rewards for each of their unlocked Racers (as well as for the player overall as of the game's eighth season), regulated multiplayer,{{cite web | url=https://www.nintendolife.com/news/2023/03/disney-speedstorm-reveals-new-competitive-mode-regulated-multiplayer | title= Disney Speedstorm Reveals New Competitive Mode "Regulated Multiplayer" | website=Nintendo Life | date= 24 March 2023 | access-date=27 March 2023}}{{cite web | url=https://nintendoeverything.com/disney-speedstorm-reveals-regulated-multiplayer-mode/ | title= Disney Speedstorm Reveals New Competitive Mode "Regulated Multiplayer" | website=Nintendo Everything | date= 24 March 2023 | access-date=27 March 2023}} a separate ranked multiplayer (with its own set of rewards that change weekly) that puts all Racers at the same performance levels, "Private Track", which allows players to set up their own custom races online with friends or invited players, and "Local Freeplay", the game's only offline mode, which features custom races for one to four players (one or two players on older consoles) in split-screen multiplayer.{{Cite web|url=https://sea.ign.com/disney-speedstorm/181794/news/disney-and-pixar-getting-their-own-mario-kart-on-nintendo-switch|title=Disney and Pixar Getting Their Own Mario Kart On Nintendo Switch|website=IGN Southeast Asia|first=Kat|last=Bailey|date=10 February 2022|access-date=12 October 2022}}{{cite web | url=https://www.gamespot.com/articles/disney-speedstorm-is-a-great-kart-racer-mired-in-confusing-progression-hooks/1100-6513043/?ftag=CAD-01-10abi2f | title= Disney Speedstorm Is A Great Kart Racer Mired In Confusing Progression Hooks | website=GameSpot | date=7 April 2023 | access-date=11 April 2023}} Ranked multiplayer can either be played either solo (up to eight Racers racing against one another) or in a team in a three-on-three race.

The races themselves are available in different types that feature different gimmicks: "Classic" is a traditional race; "Single Skill" forces all Racers to use the same offensive skill; "Floating Objects" have speed boosts and skill items floating above the ground, thus forcing Racers to jump to reach them; "Fog Challenge" covers the track in a dense fog—limiting visibility—and removes the minimap from the player's heads-up display; and "Last One Standing" is an elimination race where after a short (and declining) amount of time passes, the last place Racer either loses a "shield drone" and is teleported ahead on the track to try to avoid falling back to last or is eliminated if they have no more drones remaining. In the season two update in June 2023, the game added two new race types called "Color Match" and "Follow the Leader"; the former type forces players to pick up power-up items corresponding to one of two colors—green and purple—each of them is assigned to as indicated by the HUD and an underglow effect beneath their vehicle, switching between colors during the race, while the latter adds a long slipstream trail behind the race leader that provides a speed boost to the racers following the trail.

As of May 2025, the game has a total of 92 "Racers" (playable characters) from 27 Disney media franchises. Many franchises also have an affiliated track environment, each featuring multiple track layouts, with Mickey Mouse & Friends having two (one based on modern Mickey Mouse media and one based on black-and-white shorts such as Steamboat Willie), while Disney Speedstorm itself has two original environments, "Arbee's Arena" and "Arbee's Short Circuit". Additionally, one environment, the Pirates of the Caribbean-inspired "A Pirate's Life", received an expansion via an update for the game's ninth season, adding new areas of the map and new track layouts.

The game also features a wide voice cast, most of whom reprise their respective characters from their original works.{{cite web |url=https://gonintendo.com/contents/6911-disney-speedstorm-devs-talk-monetization-returning-voice-actors-and-marvel-star-wars |title=Disney Speedstorm devs talk Monetization, Returning Voice Actors, and Marvel/Star Wars characters in latest interview |website=GoNintendo |date=25 July 2022}}{{cite web |url=https://racinggames.gg/misc/disney-speedstorm-voice-actors-are-there-any-original-voice-actors/ |title=Disney Speedstorm voice actors: Are there any original voice actors? |website=Racing Games |date=20 April 2023}}{{cite web|title=Disney Speedstorm (2023 Video Game)|url=https://www.behindthevoiceactors.com/video-games/Disney-Speedstorm/|website=Behind the Voice Actors|access-date=4 August 2023}} Beginning with Season 7: Sugar Rush, however, only selected new Racers will receive voice lines, with some unvoiced racers (specifically Calhoun, Fear, Sally, Mr. Incredible and Baymax) getting voice lines later on.{{cite web |title=Disney Speedstorm Community Pit Stop – Season 7 Patch Notes |url=https://disneyspeedstorm.com/news/disney-speedstorm-community-pit-stop-season-7-patch-notes |website=disneyspeedstorm.com |publisher=Gameloft |access-date=18 April 2024 |date=18 April 2024}} However, Season 11 have all new Racers getting voice lines with the aforementioned Mr. Incredible getting them during the third part.

{{Horizontal list|{{Color box|#DDF|‡}} – Upcoming racer/franchise/map|{{Color box|#FFC7C7|§}} – Non-playable character}}

The music is done by a team of four musicians (Vincent Labelle, Nicholas Dubé, Francis Collard and Martin Courcy) remixing Disney and Pixar tunes.{{cite AV media|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zPTxzSJUNvE|title=Behind the Music of Disney Speedstorm|date=2023-09-22|type=YouTube video|publisher=Gameloft|via=YouTube|df=dmy-all}}{{cite web|url=https://www.thegamer.com/disney-speedstorm-soundtrack-trap-remixes/|title=Disney Speedstorm's Trap Remixes Need To Be Heard To Be Believed|first=George|last=Foster|website=TheGamer|date=2022-06-30|df=dmy-all}}

Disney Speedstorm is developed by Gameloft Barcelona, the developers of the Asphalt games 8: Airborne and Legends Unite, and was designed to be a high-speed racing game based on Disney's franchises and characters. It was made using the same game engine Asphalt 9: Legends used, Gameloft's in-house Jet Engine.{{Cite tweet|title=Same game engine. 2 logos.|number=1695372381231906998|user=imtruenathan|access-date=2023-08-26|author=TrueNathan|language=en}} Alexandru "Sasha" Adam, VP and studio manager, Gameloft Barcelona explained, "The gameplay mechanics, the racer abilities and the location design were all tailored to serve our vision of a fast and gripping competitive experience."{{cite web | url=https://www.gameloft.com/newsroom/gameloft-announces-disney-speedstorm-a-high-octane-4610 | title= Gameloft Announces Disney Speedstorm, a High-Octane Disney and Pixar Racing Game Launching 2022 | website=Gameloft | date= 9 February 2022 | access-date=28 March 2023}}

Announced in March 2023, the game was released in early access for Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Windows, Xbox One and Xbox Series X/S on 18 April 2023.{{cite magazine | url=https://www.gameinformer.com/nintendo-direct/2022/02/09/disney-speedstorm-is-a-new-free-to-play-kart-style-racing | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220210000912/https://www.gameinformer.com/nintendo-direct/2022/02/09/disney-speedstorm-is-a-new-free-to-play-kart-style-racing | url-status=live | archive-date=February 10, 2022 | title= Disney Speedstorm Is A New Free-To-Play Kart-Style Racing | magazine=Game Informer | date= 9 February 2022 | access-date=28 March 2023}}{{cite web | url=https://www.eurogamer.net/hero-racer-disney-speedstorm-launches-in-paid-early-access-next-month | title= Hero racer Disney Speedstorm launches in paid Early Access next month | website=Eurogamer | date= 17 March 2023 | access-date=28 March 2023}} A trailer for the game was released on 9 September 2022 at the D23 Expo.{{cite web | url=https://bleedingcool.com/games/new-racing-title-disney-speedstorm-revealed-during-d23-expo/ | title=New Racing Title Disney Speedstorm Revealed During D23 Expo | website= Bleeding Cool | date=9 September 2022 | access-date=19 April 2023}}

On 30 June 2023, Gameloft announced that the game would leave early access, entering its intended free-to-play period, on 28 September 2023, following the conclusion of the game's third season.

On 1 August 2023, Gameloft soft launched the game on iOS and Android alongside the game's third season update. The soft launch began in Spain and Romania, with plans to expand the soft launch to the Philippines, Brazil, Vietnam, Mexico, Australia, Taiwan, Denmark, Norway, Sweden, Austria, and Ireland over time. After an announcement on 6 June 2024, the mobile version was fully released on 11 July 2024.

On 27 March 2023, Gameloft released a trailer announcing three "Founder's Packs" that would be available during the game's early access period.{{cite web|url=https://tryhardguides.com/disney-speedstorm-teases-new-founders-packs-and-tracks-in-latest-trailer/|title=Disney Speedstorm reveals new Founder's Packs and tracks in latest trailer|website=Try Hard|date=27 March 2023|access-date=28 March 2023}}{{cite web|url=https://www.pushsquare.com/news/2023/03/ps5-ps4s-best-chance-at-a-mario-kart-rival-disney-speedstorm-flaunts-its-founders-packs|title=PS5, PS4's Best Chance at a Mario Kart Rival Disney Speedstorm Flaunts Its Founders Packs|website=Push Square|date=28 March 2023|access-date=28 March 2023}}{{cite web|url=https://screenrant.com/disney-speedstorm-founders-packs-compared-early-access/|title=Disney Speedstorm: Standard, Ultimate & Deluxe Founder's Pack Differences|website=Screen Rant|date=12 April 2023}} The Founder's Packs, which were required for early access, all contained Mickey Mouse and Donald Duck as unlocked racers (with the Deluxe Founder's Pack adding Mulan and the Ultimate Founder's Pack adding her, Hercules, and Jack Sparrow), plus a choice to immediately unlock Baloo, Belle, Beast, Elizabeth Swann, Li Shang, or Mowgli; Tokens (the game's premium currency; 4,000 Tokens for Standard, 7,000 for Deluxe, and 12,000 for Ultimate), two (or three for Ultimate) Golden Pass Credits (unlocking the Golden Pass, the game's battle pass system), exclusive racing suits and kart liveries for each of the immediately unlocked racers (depending on the player's chosen tier), exclusive Donald Duck kart wheels and wing (Ultimate only), and an exclusive player avatar and profile motto.

As a free-to-play title, all content in the game (apart from the Founder's Pack exclusives) is added via seasonal content updates, which are added approximately every two months. Each season adds four or five new racers from a newly added franchise of focus for that season, a new map based on that franchise, starting with the “Big Hero 6” themed 13th season, however, each season now adds three new racers (in this case, Hiro Hamada, Baymax and Honey Lemon), and new "bonus" racers mostly not affiliated with the season's focused-on franchise that are made available mid-season (with the exception of Season 8, Journey of Emotions, which added Anxiety and Ennui from Inside Out 2), as well as new crew members and customization options for the racers.

{{Video game reviews

| MC = wikidata

| OC = 60%{{cite web|title=Disney Speedstorm Reviews|url=https://opencritic.com/game/14798/disney-speedstorm|website=OpenCritic|access-date=11 October 2023}}

| IGN = 5/10

| NLife = 6/10

| PSQ = 7/10

}}

Disney Speedstorm received "mixed or average reviews", according to review aggregator Metacritic. 60% of critics recommended the game on review aggregator OpenCritic.

John Hansen of Push Square said while they had reservations with the free-to-play monetization, they thought the game had a lot of potential and summarised by saying "if you're a Disney fan, it's a good way to mash together some of your favorite old movies and battle it out on the racetrack."{{cite web | url=https://www.pushsquare.com/reviews/ps5/disney-speedstorm | title= Disney Speedstorm Review | website=Push Square |first=John|last=Hansen| date= 21 April 2023 | access-date=21 April 2023}}

Chris Scullion for Nintendo Life praised the gameplay but criticized the performance issues of the Switch version and felt that the game's monetization would deter some players.{{Cite web|last=Scullion|first=Chris|date=19 April 2023|url=https://www.nintendolife.com/reviews/switch-eshop/disney-speedstorm|title=Disney Speedstorm Review|website=Nintendo Life|access-date=19 April 2023}} Luke Reilly of IGN found the game had too few tracks and was overly repetitive for its then-asking price, while criticizing its excessive monetization scheme.{{Cite web|url=https://www.ign.com/articles/disney-speedstorm-early-access-review|title=Disney Speedstorm Early Access Review|website=IGN|first=Luke|last=Reilly|date=21 April 2023|access-date=21 April 2023}}

On 9 April 2024, Gameloft announced in a community news update changes to the game's Golden Passes for the game's then-upcoming seventh season.{{cite web |title=Disney Speedstorm Community Pit Stop – Introducing Tournaments and Golden Pass Changes |url=https://disneyspeedstorm.com/news/disney-speedstorm-community-pit-stop-introducing-tournaments-and-golden-pass-changes |website=disneyspeedstorm.com |publisher=Gameloft |access-date=10 April 2024 |date=9 April 2024}} The company announced that, among other changes, each season would be split into two parts lasting approximately one month each, with each part having its own Golden Pass, and Tokens—which can be either purchased as microtransactions or earned through ranked multiplayer—can no longer be used to purchase Golden Passes, effectively making Golden Passes only available via a direct purchase.

The monetization changes was met with strong backlash from players.{{cite web|last=McNally|first=Paul|title=Disney Speedstorm causes outrage as fans threaten to boycott after season pass controversy|url=https://readwrite.com/disney-speedstorm-causes-outrage-as-fans-threaten-to-boycott-after-season-pass-controversy/|website=ReadWrite|access-date=2024-04-10|date=2024-04-10|df=mdy-all}}{{cite web|last=Middler|first=Jordan|title=Disney Speedstorm's next season pass can only be purchased with real money, not earned|url=https://www.videogameschronicle.com/news/disney-speedstorms-next-season-pass-can-only-be-purchased-with-real-money-not-earned/|website=Video Games Chronicle|access-date=2024-04-10|date=2024-04-10|df=mdy-all}}{{cite web|last=Beckwith|first=Michael|title=Disney Speedstorm fans are quitting the game over new 'predatory' monetization|url=https://www.destructoid.com/disney-speedstorm-fans-are-quitting-the-game-over-new-predatory-monetization/|website=Destructoid|access-date=2024-04-10|date=2024-04-10|df=mdy-all}}{{cite web|last=Barker|first=Sammy|title=Players of PS5, PS4 Racer Disney Speedstorm Are Seething with Road Rage|url=https://www.pushsquare.com/news/2024/04/players-of-ps5-ps4-racer-disney-speedstorm-are-seething-with-road-rage|website=Push Square|access-date=2024-04-10|date=2024-04-10|df=mdy-all}}{{cite web|last=Shepard|first=Kenneth|title=Fans Considering Legal Action After Disney Kart Racer Changes Battle Pass Monetization|url=https://kotaku.com/disney-speedstorm-golden-pass-token-changes-season-7-1851401421|website=Kotaku|publisher=G/O Media|access-date=2024-04-11|date=2024-04-10|df=mdy-all}}{{cite web|last=Dinsdale|first=Ryan|title=Disney Speedstorm Players Upset as Dev Makes Battle Pass Only Purchasable With Real Money|url=https://www.ign.com/articles/disney-speedstorm-players-upset-as-dev-makes-battle-pass-only-purchasable-with-real-money|website=IGN|access-date=2024-04-13|date=2024-04-11|df=mdy-all}} Players criticized the changes as being "predatory" and labeled Gameloft as "thieves". Paul McNally of ReadWrite pointed out that the announcement comes "at a time when the Helldivers 2 Warbond battle pass is being praised for being so generous with its in-game currency allowing players easy access to its premium tiers for free". Players review bombed the game on Steam after the announcement, with Destructoid{{'}}s Michael Beckwith pointing out that the game's Steam version had been losing active players since November 2023 according to Steam Charts. Some players requested refunds for their past purchases, others threatened to boycott the game by either refusing to make any further purchases or stop playing Speedstorm altogether, and at least one Redditor on the Speedstorm subreddit has proposed filing a class action lawsuit.

On 17 April 2024, in response to the backlash, Gameloft announced that players could continue to purchase Golden Pass Credits with Tokens until 16 May 2024, allowing players to buy future Golden Passes using Credits bought with Tokens up to that date, but otherwise would continue with plans to restrict Golden Pass purchases to either direct payments or Golden Pass Credits afterward.{{cite web |title=Disney Speedstorm Community Pit Stop – Golden Pass & Tokens Update |url=https://disneyspeedstorm.com/news/disney-speedstorm-community-pit-stop-golden-pass-and-tokens-update |website=disneyspeedstorm.com |publisher=Gameloft |access-date=18 April 2024 |date=17 April 2024}}

On 1 August 2024, Gameloft released a limited time event to unlock Ennui from Inside Out 2. However, only five shards could be obtained from the event (ten is required to unlock her), requiring players to purchase and use Tokens to purchase her designated loot box, which had a rate of 15% to grant Ennui racer shards. This mandatory loot box purchase to unlock a single Racer caused another strong backlash from players.{{citation needed|date=August 2024}}

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