Disney Announces $1.5 Billion Investment in Epic Games to Create New Gaming Universe

Disney announced yesterday that it will invest $1.5 billion in Epic Games, the makers of Fortnite and the Unreal Engine to create an “open games and entertainment” universe that will interoperate with Epic’s popular battle royale game. Disney said that this will be a “multiyear project”  building on the company’s licensing business model that led to the creation of Marvel’s Spiderman and other blockbuster games with Disney characters.

“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 yesterday. “This marks Disney’s biggest entry ever into the world of games and offers significant opportunities for growth and expansion.”

In recent years, Disney and Epic Games teamed up to bring various Disney characters to Fortnite. The two companies also partnered on various Fortnite live events such as the Marvel Nexus War with Galactus, which attracted more than 15.3 million concurrent players in the battle royale game.

However, this new Disney gaming universe connected to Fortnite should offer much more to Disney fans. And it should also be quite different from recent Epic Games experiments such as Lego Fortnite, a Minecraft-like sandbox game that launched inside of Fortnite in December.

It’s worth noting that the press release made no mention of the “metaverse” buzzword that used to be in the mouth of so many companies not so long ago. However, the way Disney described the project in the press release sounds a lot like what Disney’s version of the metaverse could be:

“In addition to being a world-class games experience and interoperating with Fortnite, the new persistent universe will offer a multitude of opportunities for consumers to play, watch, shop and engage with content, characters and stories from Disney, Pixar, Marvel, Star Wars, Avatar and more. Players, gamers and fans will be able to 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,” the announcement reads.

There’s no ETA yet on when this Disney connected universe built in partnership with Epic Games with launch. However, the $1.5 billion transaction, which will see Disney acquire an equity stake in Epic Games, is subject to customary closing conditions, including regulatory approvals.