Game news “Its biggest leap into the world of video games”, Disney is investing a record sum in this giant of the industry. Any changes to be expected for one of the most played games of all time?
This is probably the breaking news of the beginning of the year. Disney and Epic Games have jointly announced a collaboration for the coming years. It concerns Fortnite but should also take advantage of the Unreal Engine to produce a universe around Disney licenses such as Marvel, Star Wars or Avatar.
Disney and Epic Games (Fortnite) join forces for a multi-year collaboration
While 2023 ended with the formalization of the largest takeover in video game history with the Microsoft / Activision Blizzard King deal, 2024 seems to be starting to follow suit in February. Yesterday, Walt Disney announced that it was collaborating with Epic Games, the company behind the hit video game Fortnite. On his official sitewe can read :
The Walt Disney Company and Epic Games will collaborate on an all-new universe of games and entertainment that will further expand the reach of beloved Disney stories and experiences (…) In addition to being a world-class gaming experience and interoperate with Fortnite, the new persistent universe will provide a multitude of opportunities for consumers to play, watch, purchase and engage with content, characters and stories from Disney, Pixar, Marvel, Star Wars, Avatar and Moreover.
As if to support this collaboration, Disney also announced that it would invest $1.5 billion (around 1.4 billion euros) to acquire a stake in the company.. The CEO of the firm, Bob Iger, explained on the microphone of the CNBC channel that this initiative was synonymous with the most “big leap forward in the world of video games” for Disney. Something he justifies in the following way:
Which I think is not only timely, but an important step when you consider demographic trends and how Generation Alpha and Generation Z and even millennials are spending their time there.
Epic Games is not just Fortnite
This collaboration between Disney and Epic Games is a long-term one and it clearly cannot be ruled out that changes may occur regarding Fortnite. The numerous licenses held by Disney should make it possible to create many game modes with different gameplay. Something that was observed recently with the announcement of Rocket Racing; Lego Fortnite and Fortnite Festival. Enough to promise an even larger player base than the 350 million players registered in 2022. In any case, this is what we can believe from the words of Tim Sweeney, CEO of Epic Games:
Today, we’re collaborating on something entirely new to build a persistent, open, and interoperable ecosystem that will bring the Disney and Fortnite communities together.
It should also be remembered that collaborating with Epic Games is not necessarily just with Fortnite. The American company is also behind the Unreal Engine, the most popular game engine in the world. Disney is therefore investing not only in an ecosystem that is opening up more and more (Fortnite) but also in cutting-edge technology in the field.