Features, Games

Disney and Epic Games Announce Major Partnership!!

Disney is officially planning their “biggest foray into the game space ever,” according to Bob Iger. The House of Mouse’s CEO revealed on CNBC on Wednesday that the entertainment giant was investing a staggering $1.5 billion in Epic Games, the developer of the mega-popular battle royale Fortnite. Much of the relationship appears to revolve around Epic‘s flagship title, but could also include new titles based on Disney properties that would further expand the company’s footprint in the gaming industry.

“We’ve entered into a strategic relationship with Epic Games, the maker of Fortnite to not only invest in the company — [Disney] took a minority stake of $1.5 billion investment — but we’re also creating a huge Disney universe that will be for gaming and for play and for watching and even for shopping for digital goods,” Iger announced. This new “universe” with Epic will also include physical products that will be interconnected with Fortnite in some way. Iger went on to champion the deal for the new opportunities the company will explore as part of the partnership, teasing more intermingling between Disney‘s brands and Fortnite as well as more use of the developer’s Unreal Engine for development of their “transformational new games and entertainment universe.”

Working with Epic Games is nothing new for Disney – the company has been one of the most eager to embrace Fortnite as a giant in the entertainment space, allowing for many of its characters from Star Wars, the MCU, and beyond to be featured as skins. One of their more notable collaborations came back in 2018 with the release of a limited-time mode that allowed players to become Thanos and wield the Infinity Gauntlet in a match. With the battle royale venturing into larger, more ambitious alternate games like the survival-focused LEGO Fortnite, the blueprint exists for Disney to develop digital worlds dedicated entirely to their brand within the game itself.

Disney and Epic’s Collaboration Is Far More Than Just a Game

Iger and company appear to have high hopes for what the multi-year Epic project can bring beyond simply gaming. In a press release shared about the deal, Disney further emphasized how this new deal will also expand watching and shopping opportunities and even give fans the ability “to create their own stories and experiences, express their fandom in a distinctly Disney way, and share content with each other in ways that they love.” What exactly this entails remains to be seen, but it will all be powered through Epic’s Unreal Engine. Epic CEO Tim Sweeney spoke to how natural the partnership felt, saying in his own statement:

“Disney was one of the first companies to believe in the potential of bringing their worlds together with ours in Fortnite, and they use Unreal Engine across their portfolio. Now we’re collaborating on something entirely new to build a persistent, open, and interoperable ecosystem that will bring together the Disney and Fortnite communities.”

Stay tuned here at Collider for more on what Disney‘s investment in and collaboration with Epic Games could mean for the future. Check out the announcement video below.​​​​​​​

 

via Collider

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