Fortnite is known for its crossovers. From Spongebob to Resident Evil, many a famous face from disparate media has made an appearance in the battle royale behemoth.
09.02.2024 - 16:18 / eurogamer.net / Tim Sweeney / Will Pokémon / Matt Wales
The Walt Disney Company has announced it's acquiring a $1.5bn USD stake in Epic Games as it launches a multi-year partnership to create an «expansive and open games and entertainment universe connected to Fortnite».
This new Unreal Engine-powered «persistent universe» will «interoperate» with Fortnite to offer a «multitude of opportunities for consumers to play, watch, shop and engage with content, characters and stories» from across Disney's vast IP portfolio.
Explicit mention is made of Disney, Pixar, Marvel, Star Wars, and Avatar, with users 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.»
To see this content please enable targeting cookies. Manage cookie settings Newscast: Will Pokémon take Palworld down?Watch on YouTubeA bit of concept art accompanying today's announcement looks quite a lot like the ultimate interactive entertainment dystopia: an in-Fortnite digital theme park where fake Disney Cruise ships go on pretend tours; where a cyberpunk-esque corporate 'zone' sees Disney+-branded skyscrapers loom over an ESPN arena and a Star Wars-themed Lucasfilm office rotunda, while an AT-AT battle nudges up against Pandora in the background.
«Disney was one of the first companies to believe in the potential of bringing their worlds together with ours in Fortnite,» Epic Games CEO Tim Sweeney says of today's partnership announcement in a statement shared alongside the news. «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.»
Epic, of course, has made no secret of its desire to expand Fortnite far beyond its battle royale core and out into a metaversal mishmash of interactive experiences — and today's announcement merely looks like another step in that journey. It's already dramatically expanded the core Fortnite offering, with last year's in-house Lego survival, racing, and rhythm-game modes, and has launched its Unreal Editor for Fortnite tools, enabling developers to create their own in-game experiences similar to the strategy employed by Roblox.
Today's announcement of Epic's multi-year collaboration with — and $1.5bn investment from — The Walt Disney Company follows the Fortnite maker's decision to lay off «around 830 employees» late last year — news which was accompanied by Tim Sweeney's admission that, «For a while now, we've been spending way more money than we earn.»
Fortnite is known for its crossovers. From Spongebob to Resident Evil, many a famous face from disparate media has made an appearance in the battle royale behemoth.
The Epic Games Store will be coming to iOS in Europe thanks to provisions in the European Union (EU)'s Digital Markets Act (DMA).
The Epic Games Store officially turned 5 years old in December, and while some of the fiery debate surrounding the storefront has died down, that doesn’t necessarily mean it’s a success yet. As part of their lawsuit against Google, Epic admitted the EGS still isn’t profitable and now they’ve released their 2023 Year in Review stats, which they obviously try to spin in a positive way, but don’t really look that promising.
Epic Games will begin developing a mobile version of the Epic Games Store for launch on iOS in Europe, the company has said, now it has officially received an Apple Developer Account.
Microsoft has shared updated Game Pass membership figures for the first time since January 2022, saying the on-demand gaming service now has 34m «fully paid» subscribers, with «significant growth» coming from PC and cloud.
Following mounting reports Xbox is preparing for some kind of multiplatform future, Microsoft has confirmed it'll be bringing four previously Xbox-exclusive first-party titles to PlayStation 5 and Switch later this year, with more likely to come in the future.
Sony has unveiled its PlayStation Plus Extra and Premium game catalogue additions for February, which this month include Assassin's Creed Valhalla, Need for Speed Unbound, The Outer Worlds, Tales of Arise, and more.
Hellbent on harvesting your nostalgia forever, megacorp Disney has purchased a $1.5 billion stake in Epic Games, teaming up to create a persistent, social universe within Fortnite. It sounds wildly ambitious and more than a little dystopian, allowing fans to «play, watch, shop, and engage» with their favourite Disney, Pixar, Marvel, and Star Wars characters and bringing us one step closer to the future promised in Ready Player One.
The boss of Doctor Who has moved to debunk various rumors that indicated the popular show would soon launch a collaboration with Fortnite.
Disney are taking out a $1.5 billion minority equity stake in Fortnite publisher Epic Games, and have announced "an all-new games and entertainment universe that will further expand the reach of beloved Disney stories and experiences". According to Disney CEO Robert A. Iger, it's "Disney’s biggest entry ever into the world of games". Friends, we are witnessing the birth of a franchising megamoeba of titanic proportions - a new, Unreal Engine-driven "persistent universe" of playing, watching, shopping and other content-tickling opportunities, featuring characters and stories from Pixar, Marvel, Star Wars, Avatar "and more". Where are your puny gods now?
Walt Disney is acquiring a $1.5 billion (roughly Rs. 12,400 crore) equity stake in Fortnite maker Epic Games as part of a collaboration involving Disney properties like Star Wars, Marvel and Avatar, the companies said Wednesday.
Fortnite giant Epic Games has scored a $1.5 billion investment from entertainment behemoth The Walt Disney Company.