Disney and Epic Games are collaborating on a new gaming and entertainment universe featuring characters and stories from Disney, Pixar, Marvel, Star Wars, Avatar, and more.
Bob Iger On Buying $1.5 Billion Stake in Epic Games
Disney CEO Bob Iger announced that Disney has acquired a $1.5 billion stake in Epic Games to develop a new social universe. This universe will “interoperate” with Fortnite, enabling fans to “play, watch, shop, and engage” with their favorite characters and stories.
In an interview on CNBC, Iger said, “We’ve entered into a strategic relationship with Epic Games, the maker of ‘Fortnite’, to not only invest in the company—[Disney] took a minority stake of $1.5 billion in investment—but we’re also creating a huge Disney universe.”
“We’ve tried our hand at video games a number of different directions and actually the one that ended up being the most successful for us was the licensing,” Iger said. “We’ve licensed I think $9 billion in franchises, including the Spider-Man franchise, which was the most successful video game last year.”
Below, read the description and watch the teaser revealed by Fortnite.
“In addition to being a world-class gaming experience and interoperating with ‘Fortnite,’ the new persistent 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.”
Epic Games CEO and founder Tim Sweeney said in a statement, “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.” Sweeney added, “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.”
RELATED: Marvel’s ‘Blade’ Game Targeting 2027 Release (Exclusive)
