The Walt Disney Company and Epic Games just announced a collaboration to expand the reach of both companies’ intellectual properties (IPs). The goal of the partnership is to bring characters from the Disney universe to the Fortnite metaverse while introducing new modes to enjoy gaming. Disney is staking $1.5 billion in the multi-year deal, subject to closing conditions and regulatory approvals.
The $1.5 Billion Partnership
Fortnite is no longer a stranger to collaborating with the House of Mouse as characters under its ownership like those under Marvel, Tron, Star Wars, and The Nightmare Before Christmas have already appeared in the game.
According to Disney, its $1.5 billion equity stake in Epic aims to offer a whole new “world-class games experience” within Fortnite. In addition to gaming, it will provide an avenue for users to shop and watch. It also allows them to interact casually with the avatars of other players or create their adventures together.
The big reveal of the $181.85 billion Burbank-based company resulted in a 6.65% surge in its shares to bring up the value of each stock to $105.79 after trading hours from a closing of $99.14 on Wednesday. On the other hand, the US arm of Tencent based in Palo Alto which currently owns 40% of Epic Games closed at $37.27 on the same trading day.
Statements of Disney and Epic Games’ Key Officials
“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 Robert 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,” remarked Epic Founder and CEO Tim Sweeney. “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.”
No Mention of “Metaverse”
Interestingly, the lengthy press material released by Disney and Epic as well as the statements of its key executives never made mention of “metaverse.” Instead, the parties referred to it as a “persistent, open, and interoperable ecosystem” and “persistent universe.” That’s quite a mouthful but they will have to settle with that for now as the combination of “per” and “verse” will surely get heads rolling.
The reason for this noticeable omission is not clear but it could be similar to Apple’s supposed reasoning in the marketing of the Vision Pro. Based on sources, the $2.92 trillion tech giant is deliberately avoiding the term to prevent consumers from linking them with Mark Zuckerberg’s Meta (formerly Facebook).
In its place, the Cupertino-based company headed by CEO Tim Cook referred to the worlds unlocked by the device as “spatial computing.”