For years, Disney has been trying to get their foot into the gaming industry, licensing out high-profile IPs such as those from Star Wars and Marvel to some of the biggest gaming studios. For the most, this seems to have had a pretty successful run, but now the company is looking at taking its biggest leap, as they’ll be teaming up with Epic Games to create new games and a new explorable universe at the cost of $1.5 billion.
The news was broken today by Disney in a press release, where they confirmed they’ll be investing $1.5 billion for an equity stake in Epic Games. This will allow them to create new games and an entertainment universe (supposedly within Fortnite) for people to explore all things Disney.
“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 Robert A. Iger, Chief Executive Officer, The Walt Disney Company. “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.”
“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. “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.”
A teaser of this new universe was also shared.
Disney and Epic Games have worked closely together for the last few years, with Disney using Unreal Engine across several projects, including The Mandalorian. Epic Games has also benefitted from the relationship, seeing several collaborations with Disney-owned properties within Fortnite. Last November, we saw Peter Griffin, a now Disney-owned character, join the battle royale fray in Fortnite.
Logically, it makes sense why Disney would invest so much into Epic Games, as the studio has already built what many consider gaming’s largest universe with Fortnite. With big ambitions, you need the right people, and who better to bring the multi-space Disney universe to life than Epic Games?