Fortnite giant Epic Games has scored a $1.5 billion investment from entertainment behemoth The Walt Disney Company.
Per Disney boss Bob Iger, this is the company’s “biggest entry ever in the world of games.” The two companies are going to be working together on a major project; Disney plans to build its own “games and entertainment universe” featuring its IP, including vanilla Disney, Marvel, Star Wars, Pixar and… Avatar.
Said universe is going to “interoperate” with Fortnite, though what this means exactly is unclear.
“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,” Disney CEO Robert Iger said.
“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.”
Epic boss Tim Sweeney (pictured) added: “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. 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 has previously worked with Disney to bring characters from Star Wars and Marvel to Fortnite. The entertainment giant even used the game to promote The Rise of Skywalker ahead of its 2019 release.
This also follows Epic securing investment from both LEGO and Sony in 2022; the former partnership resulted in LEGO Fortnite, which launched at the end of last year.