The Walt Disney Company and Epic Games have announced a collaboration to create a new games and entertainment universe connected to Fortnite. Disney will invest $1.5 billion to acquire an equity stake in Epic Games, and the project will allow consumers to play, watch, shop and engage with content from Disney, Pixar, Marvel, Star Wars, Avatar and other franchises.
The new universe will be powered by Unreal Engine and allow players to interact with Disney stories and experiences. Disney has leveraged Unreal Engine to produce assets and content across its portfolio, such as video game titles Kingdom Hearts 3 and Star Wars Jedi: Survivor. The 3D graphics tool has also been used in cinematic editing, film animation and several theme park attractions.
Disney and Epic Games have a history of engaging with Fortnite players via content integrations, season collaborations and in-game activations. The partnership will deepen their relationship and as they work to create an open and interoperable ecosystem that bridges the Disney and Fortnite communities.
This partnership builds on Epic Games’ participation in the 2017 Disney Accelerator, a program aiming to impact the future of technology and entertainment.
