Disney Buys $1.5 Billion Stake in Epic Games to Create ‘Expansive’ Universe Within Fortnite

Disney has purchased a $1.5 billion stake in Epic Games and teamed up with the company to develop a new expansive, open, persistent, and social universe that will “interoperate” with Fortnite and let fans “play, watch, shop, and engage” with their favorite characters and stories from Disney, Pixar, Marvel, Star Wars, Avatar, and more.

The news was revealed during Disney’s Q1 FY24 Earnings Call and it was announced that this new experience built in Unreal Engine will let players “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.”

“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,” said Robert A. Iger, Chief Executive Officer, The Walt Disney Company. “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,” said Tim Sweeney, CEO and Founder, Epic Games. “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.”

No further details were given about the project or when fans can expect it to arrive, but it is said to be a “multi-year project” and looks to expand on many of the times Disney and Epic have worked together in Fortnite. In addition to there being Marvel and Star Wars skins in the game, there have also been such live events as the Marvel Nexus War with Galactus that brought in 15.3 million concurrent players.

This new experience will most likely work in a similar fashion to LEGO Fortnite, Rocket Racing, and Fortnite Festival, in that they exist within Fortnite but are separate games that you launch from the game itself.

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Adam Bankhurst is a news writer for IGN. You can follow him on Twitter @AdamBankhurst and on Twitch.