Veteran Call of Duty: Black Ops designer David Vonderhaar has established a new “AAA game studio” with NetEase.
09.02.2024 - 18:25 / rockpapershotgun.com / Tim Sweeney / Ios
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?
Disney and Epic's new "persistent universe" thingy will be a "world-class games experience" that "interoperates" with Fortnite. "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," Epic CEO and founder Tim Sweeney comments in a press release. "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."
Disney Experiences chairman Josh D'Amaro is similarly high on life. "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," he writes in the release. "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."
I'm sure Epic's leadership are particularly pleased with this transaction - which is "subject to customary closing conditions, including regulatory approvals" - given the setbacks they've recently faced with their metaverse ambitions for Fortnite. The Unreal publisher announced plans to lay off 830 people last September, with Sweeney conceding that the goal of "growing Fortnite as a metaverse-inspired ecosystem for creators" remained incomplete. He observed back then that Fortnite's latter-day growth has been "driven primarily by creator content with significant revenue sharing, and this is a lower margin business than we had when Fortnite Battle Royale took off and began funding our expansion".
As of November 8th last year, Epic have also yet to make any profit from the Epic Games Store - their would-be St George to Steam's dragon. But they've had some notable public successes of late, including a court victory over Google following the latter's disallowing in-app purchases in the Google store version of Fortnite. They've also recently launched a Lego version of
Veteran Call of Duty: Black Ops designer David Vonderhaar has established a new “AAA game studio” with NetEase.
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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.
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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.
Epic Games releases the new Cowabunga event in Fortnite, bringing back the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles as well as new content including a reward pass, cosmetics, and skins for popular characters like Shredder and Splinter. Collaborations and crossovers have become a staple for the popular online shooter, with Fortnite mixing with tons of franchises and IPs like Marvel, DC, anime, and video games, including the likes of Master Chief and Kratos to name a few. With how popular these events are, there are no signs of Fortnite slowing down anytime soon, especially now with Epic Games and Disney teaming up.
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».
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.
announced on Wednesday that it was investing $1.5 billion into Epic Games in order to support a multi-year project between the two companies that includes a new “games and entertainment universe.”