The Walt Disney Company has announced a collaboration with Epic Games that will see the Mouse House buy a $1.5 billion equity stake in the Fortnite-creator.
As detailed in Disney's announcement, the multi-year project will take form as a "new persistent universe" connected to Fortnite that will give Disney fans the opportunity to "play, watch, shop and engage with content, characters and stories from Disney, Pixar, Marvel, Star Wars, Avatar and more."
According to Disney CEO Bob Iger, the joint-venture "marks Disney’s biggest entry ever into the world of games and offers significant opportunities for growth and expansion." In the words of Mickey Mouse, "Oh boy!"
Epic Games CEO Tim Sweeney elaborated further, stating that the relationship will lead to "a persistent, open and interoperable ecosystem that will bring together the Disney and Fortnite communities.”
Epic adventures ahead
Taking advantage of Unreal Engine, the new universe will reportedly give Disney fans the tools to "express their fandom in a distinctly Disney way," and also "create their own stories and experiences" to share with other members of the online community.
The move should see the already-strong relationship between Disney and Epic reach greater heights, with previous Disney-themed content integrations bringing in more than 15.3 million concurrent players.
Disney and Epic are already teasing some exciting things ahead — a trailer accompanying the announcement offers glimpses of famous characters like Indiana Jones, Darth Vader, Deadpool, Elsa, Lightning McQueen and more as they get ready to head into the new universe. You can check out the announcement trailer below.
The announcement coincides with The Walt Disney Company's latest quarterly earnings call, where Moana 2, a new EPSN streaming platform and more were announced.
