Disney is making its greatest push but into video video games. On February 7, the Mouse Home and Fortnite creator Epic Games introduced plans to create new video games and an leisure universe the place customers can “play, watch, store and interact with content material, characters and tales from Disney, Pixar, Marvel, Star Wars, Avatar and extra,” firm representatives mentioned in a press launch.
“Our thrilling new relationship with Epic Video games will convey collectively Disney’s beloved manufacturers and franchises with the massively common Fortnite in a transformational new video games and leisure universe,” mentioned Disney CEO Robert Iger. “This marks Disney’s greatest entry ever into the world of video games and presents vital alternatives for development and enlargement. We are able to’t look forward to followers to expertise the Disney tales and worlds they love in groundbreaking new methods.”
“Disney was one of many first firms to imagine within the potential of bringing their worlds along with ours in Fortnite, they usually use Unreal Engine throughout their portfolio,” mentioned Epic CEO Tim Sweeney. “Now we’re collaborating on one thing fully new to construct a persistent, open and interoperable ecosystem that may convey collectively 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 12 months’s Find the Force occasion honoring the Prequel Trilogy. Again in 2020, Fortnite’s Nexus Struggle 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.
Whereas it’s tempting to think about Disney as primarily a producer of films, TV, and Child Yoda merch, it’s had a finger within the gaming pie for a while. This little nugget from the press launch shocked me slightly. “Licensed video games from Disney garnered greater than 150 award nominations, wins and different accolades in 2023, together with a number of Recreation of the Yr nominations for Marvel’s Spider-Man 2. Disney cell video games have 1.5 billion international installs, and so far, 9 Disney video games franchises have every grossed greater than $1 billion in gross 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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