Disney is making its largest push but into video video games. On February 7, the Mouse House and Fortnite creator Epic Games introduced plans to create new video games and an leisure universe the place customers can “play, watch, shop and engage with content, characters and stories from Disney, Pixar, Marvel, Star Wars, Avatar and more,” firm representatives stated in a press launch.
“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,” stated Disney CEO Robert 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.”
“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,” stated Epic CEO Tim Sweeney. “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.”
This isn’t the primary time Disney and Epic have collaborated. Fortnite has hosted a number of Star Wars-themed occasions through the years, together with final yr’s Find the Force occasion honoring the Prequel Trilogy. Back in 2020, Fortnite’s Nexus War with Galactus occasion primarily based within the Marvel universe drew greater than 15.3 million concurrent gamers, in response to the press launch saying the deal.
While it’s tempting to consider Disney as primarily a producer of flicks, TV, and Baby Yoda merch, it’s had a finger within the gaming pie for a while. This little nugget from the press launch stunned me a bit of. “Licensed games from Disney garnered more than 150 award nominations, wins and other accolades in 2023, including multiple Game of the Year nominations for Marvel’s Spider-Man 2. Disney mobile games have 1.5 billion global installs, and to date, nine Disney games franchises have each grossed more than $1 billion in sales.” Who knew?
Anyway, congratulations to each these desperately cash-strapped firms who so sorely wanted an opportunity to make more cash.
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