An unexpected monster deal in the gaming world: Disney invests $ 1.5 billion in Epic. Epic is known for Fortnite and Disney has Mickey ears for that. It would like to have its own Fortnite universe built, just like LEGO. And since Disney has a lot of universes, that will probably require a lot of money.
An Epic trailer
It’s extremely lame to say, but the trailer for this collaboration already looks epic. Disney and Epic are working together to build an “expanded games and entertainment universe,” as they put it. It must become a kind of metaverse, something for which Disney itself had already set up teams, but for which it probably realized that enlisting the help of a company that can do it even better than Disney itself is a smarter move. It costs a few cents, but you will probably have something later. LEGO already proved last year that such a Fortnite collaboration is a very good idea. 2.5 million people played LEGO Fortnite in December. LEGO invested $2 billion to get that universe built.
Disney writes: “In addition to being a world-class gaming experience and partnering with Fortnite, the new persistent universe offers 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 soon 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 they love.”
Disney and Fortnite
It is not the first time that Disney and Fortnite have collaborated. Marvel’s heroes already made their appearance in Fortnite in 2020 in a season that was entirely dedicated to the Avengers and co. You can also encounter characters from Star Wars in Fortnite. Disney is clearly very confident: it has never invested so much in the gaming world. It is also good news for gamers. The advantage is that Disney comes out on top: Fortnite remains Fortnite. Moreover, Disney has extremely popular franchises under its banner, so there will probably be a lot of Fortnite players due to this collaboration.
It is still unknown when all this will happen. We’re not counting on it this year, but hopefully we’ll get some sneak peaks of it in the meantime. Until then, you can enjoy Disney in Rocket League: there will be a Mandalorian update for that racing game, with of course a top car from Grogu.
