The major entertainment conglomerate revealed today its plans to invest $1.5 billion “to acquire an equity stake” in Epic Games, the publisher behind Fortnite, with the goal of fashioning a Fortnite-style universe for its own intellectual property.
Robert A. Iger, CEO of The Walt Disney Company, commented, “Our exciting new relationship with Epic Games will bring together Disney’s beloved brands and franchises with the hugely popular Fortnite in a transformational new games and entertainment universe. This marks Disney’s biggest entry ever into the world of games and offers significant opportunities for growth and expansion. We can’t wait for fans to experience the Disney stories and worlds they love in groundbreaking new ways.”
Disney envisions its “new, persistent universe” as a space where consumers can “play, watch, shop and engage with content, characters and stories from Disney, Pixar, Marvel, Star Wars, Avatar and more.”
Tim Sweeney, CEO and founder of Epic Games, stated, “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.”
Powered by Unreal Engine, the same technology behind Fortnite, this venture will integrate Disney’s vast array of stories and experiences into a single platform. Josh D’Amaro, chairman of Disney Experiences, remarked, “This will enable us to bring together our incredible collection of stories and experiences from across the company for a broad audience in ways we have only dreamed of before. Epic Games’ industry-leading technology and Fortnite’s open ecosystem will help us reach consumers where they are so they can engage with Disney in the ways that are most relevant to them.”
Disney highlighted its accomplishments in the gaming industry, such as Marvel’s Spider-Man on PlayStation, the top-selling superhero game ever, and the mobile success of Disney games, boasting over 1.5 billion global installs and exceeding $1 billion in sales.
This story is developing, and further updates will be provided as soon as possible.
