With the continued success of Fortnite and its engine Unreal Engine, Epic Games necessarily attracts envy, even if its recent financial situation has not been at its best, with the result of numerous layoffs at the end of last year. Sony And KIRKBIthe parent company of The LEGO Grouphad thus invested 1 billion dollars each in Tim Sweeney’s firm in 2022. Since then, the partnership with the Danish company aimed at creating a metaverse has given birth to LEGO Fortnite, launched in December and which is only the first project of its kind. Well, now it’s another entertainment giant investing $1.5 billion in Epic Games : Disney !
It is in the wake of the presentation of its financial results for the first quarter of its fiscal year 2024 (from September to December 30, 2023) that The Walt Disney Company has announcement this capital participation. After years of collaboration giving rise to skins and events featuring the characters Marvel And Star Wars In Fortniteand the use ofUnreal Engine in creations such as Kingdom Hearts III And Star Wars Jedi: Survivoramong other things, the relationship between these two giants will thus move to the next stage: a project over several years aimed at the creation of new games and a persistent universe of entertainment with the universes mentioned above, but also Disney, Pixar, Avatar and moreobviously using the engineepic.
These new experiences will be interoperable with Fortnite, remains to be seen in what way, although the obvious would be that the latter serves as a portal to access it. What is certain is that they will offer “opportunities for consumers to play, watch, purchase and interact with content”. The video broadcast for the occasion undoubtedly shows us what this new virtual world will look like with different islands linked together.
Our exciting new relationship with Epic Games will bring together Disney’s beloved brands and franchises with the wildly popular Fortnite into a transformational new world of gaming and entertainment. This marks Disney’s largest entry into the world of video games and provides significant opportunities for growth and expansion. We can’t wait for fans to discover the Disney stories and worlds they love in revolutionary ways.
Robert A. Iger, CEO of The Walt Disney Company
Disney was one of the first companies to believe in the potential of bringing their worlds together with ours in Fortnite, and they use the Unreal Engine across their entire portfolio. Now we’re collaborating on something entirely new for build a persistent, open and interoperable ecosystem that will bring the Disney and Fortnite communities together.
Tim Sweeney, CEO and Founder of Epic Games
This will allow us to bring together our incredible collection of stories and experiences from across the company for a wide audience in a way we have only dreamed of before. Epic Games’ cutting-edge technology and Fortnite’s open ecosystem will help us reach consumers where they are so they can interact with Disney in the way that works best for them.
Josh D’Amaro, President of Disney Experiences
In passing, you will note that at no time does the press release of Disney makes no mention of the metaverse. You have to believe that the term would have been frowned upon, but that will not fool anyone.
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| Alexandre SAMSON (Omega Law) Responsible Proofreader – Editor | ||
| Addicted to Assassin’s Creed and Destiny, big fan of RPGs and passionate about video game experiences in general. Reader of comics (DC) and various mangas (One Piece!). Chemist by training and Whovian at heart. | ||
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