Disney (NYSE: DIS), through WDIG, has created a new team called Disney Online Studios, to focus on games, virtual worlds and online social communities...the unit will include the creators of Disney.com XD and the company’s Virtual Reality Studio group responsible for Disney’s Toontown Online and Pirates of the Caribbean Online. What it won’t include: Club Penguin, which was acquired in August 2007 for a total of up to $700 million...that unit still directly reports to Steve Wadsworth, president of WDIG.

Steve Parkis will be the new SVP and will lead the newly formed group, reporting to Paul Yanover, EVP and MD of Disney Online. Mike Goslin, VP of Virtual Worlds and one of the lead developers of Toontown and Pirates of the Caribbean Online, has been appointed to guide the development of online virtual worlds and communities. More in the release.

Meanwhile, Disney has announced a new a new virtual world called Pixie Hollow, based on fictional characters on DisneyFairies.com. It will launch later this year.