Disney Invests $1.5 Billion Into Epic Games, Plans Entertainment Universe Connected to Fortnite
The investment and partnership with Epic Games marks Disney’s biggest entry into the world of gaming yet.
Today on CNBC, just before Disney’s Q1 earnings, Disney CEO Bob Iger announced that Disney invested $1.5 billion in Epic Games and that the companies would be working together for the foreseeable future.
The Walt Disney Company and Epic Games will collaborate on an all-new games and entertainment universe that will further expand the reach of beloved Disney stories and experiences.
The new persistent Disney universe is being described as “a gigantic Disney World a la Fortnite.” The new Disney universe will offer a multitude of opportunities for consumers to play, watch, shop and engage with content, characters and stories from Disney, Pixar, Marvel, Star Wars, Avatar and more. Players, gamers, and fans will be able 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. This will all be powered by Unreal Engine.
The investment and partnership with Epic Games marks Disney’s biggest entry into the world of gaming yet. Disney Experiences Chairman Josh D’Amaro and Disney’s head of gaming Sean Shoptaw showed Disney CEO Bob Iger demographic trends upon his return. Once Iger saw the trends in video games he knew Disney had to enter the space in a compelling way. Iger said the relationship with Epic provided Disney with a tremendous opportunity to not only meet more consumers where they are but to allow more audiences to cultivate a bond with Disney’s iconic brands and franchises.
“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,” said Disney CEO Bob Iger in a statement. “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 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,” said Tim Sweeney, CEO and Founder, Epic Games sad in a statement. “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.”
“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,” said Josh D’Amaro, Chairman, Disney Experiences in a statement. “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 and Epic Games have a relationship dating back to 2017. Epic Games was a part of the Disney Accelerator program, which identifies potential start-ups that can transform the tech and entertainment space.
Epic Games also created the Unreal Engine. Unreal Engine has been used to produce assets and content across the Disney portfolio including in the development of video games like Kingdom Hearts 3 and Star Wars Jedi: Survivor; in cinematic editing and animation for film and streaming; and in the creation of more than 15 Disney Parks attractions like Millennium Falcon: Smugglers Run at Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge.
Disney and Epic Games team up comes at a time when there are more than 3 billion video game players worldwide. The new partnership looks to innovate on both ends.
Disney’s gaming business prior to this deal with Epic Games has been going steady. Disney has been a licensor. Licensed games from Disney garnered more than 150 award nominations, wins, and other accolades in 2023, including multiple Game of the Year nominations for Marvel’s Spider-Man 2. Disney mobile games have 1.5 billion global installs, and to date, nine Disney games franchises have each grossed more than $1 billion in sales. In the U.S., the world’s largest games market, licensed titles from Disney regularly hit the annual top-10 best-sellers list. Disney also has more licensed games on the way including Indiana Jones and the Great Circle.
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Zach Perilstein is the Editor-in-Chief of the Boardwalk Times
