Disney to partner with Epic Games on ‘persistent’ games universe

In Disney’s biggest move into the gaming industry yet, it will partner with Fortnite maker Epic Games to create an “expansive and open games and entertainment universe” that will interoperate with Fortnite.

According to Disney, the universe will “offer a multitude of opportunities for consumers to play, watch, shop and engage with content, characters and stories” from franchises including Disney, Pixar, Marvel, Avatar and Star Wars.

The universe will be powered by Epic Games’ Unreal Engine.

“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. 

“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.”

Josh D’Amaro, chair of Disney Experiences, added: “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. 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.”

Welcoming the deal, Epic Games CEO Tim Sweeney said that the companies are “collaborating on something entirely new to build a persistent, open and interoperable ecosystem that will bring together the Disney and Fortnite communities”.

Fortnite, which has hundreds of millions of active monthly players, is considered one of the most successful metaverse platforms, along with VRChat, Roblox and Second Life. Sweeney has embraced the sometimes-derided term and called for an open vision of the metaverse, arguing that it “can’t be another walled garden” controlled by big tech companies.

In 2022, Epic Games teamed up with Lego to develop the open-world survival game Lego Fortnite. Its latest collaboration with Disney marks a continued push to turn Fortnite into a platform that supports a much wider range of games.

Disney and Epic Games have worked together extensively, including on Nexus War with Galactus, which attracted more than 15 million concurrent players, and with Disney using Unreal Engine to help produce content ranging from video games like Kingdom Hearts 3 to theme park attractions. 

The news was announced during Disney’s Q1 2024 earnings call. As part of the deal, Disney will also take a $1.5bn minority stake in Epic Games, subject to regulatory approvals.