Disney Buys Stake In Epic Games, Sets Entertainment Partnership Around Fortnite

Disney will invest $1.5 billion to acquire an equity stake in Epic Games alongside a multiyear collaboration on a new games and entertainment universe focused on Fortnite to expand the reach of Disney stories and experiences.

Disney CEO Bob Iger announced the move on the company’s quarterly earnings call, followed with a press release. “In addition to being a world-class games experience and interoperating with Fortnite, the new 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,” it said. “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 collaboration will be powered by Unreal Engine.

“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 Disney CEO Bob Iger. “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.”

Josh D’Amaro, chairman of Disney Experiences Epic’s technology and Fortnite’s open ecosystem “will help us reach consumers where they are so they can engage with Disney in the ways that are most relevant to them.”

The investment and new collaboration is an expansion of the work the two companies already do together.

Disney and Epic Games have engaged hundreds of millions of players through Fortnite content integrations, season collaborations, in-game activations, and live events, including the Marvel Nexus War with Galactus, which drew more than 15.3 million concurrent players.