Lego Fortnite is just two months outdated, however Epic Video games is already out with a good larger collaboration.
Epic and Disney introduced at present that the businesses will companion on an “all-new games and entertainment universe” that can deliver characters from Disney’s deep catalogue to life by way of Fortnite.
The scope of the venture sounds huge, to say the least. In a press launch, the businesses described the forthcoming venture as “an all-new games and entertainment universe” providing gamers a option to “play, watch, shop and engage with” characters and storylines from Disney, Marvel, Star Wars and Pixar. The collaboration will use Epic’s Unreal Engine and can be “interoperable” with Fortnite, tying into Epic’s current on-line social gaming infrastructure.
“This marks Disney’s biggest entry ever into the world of games and offers significant opportunities for growth and expansion,” Disney CEO Bob Iger mentioned of the partnership. Disney may also take a $1.5 billion fairness stake in Epic Video games as a part of the deal.
The Disney collaboration comes as a shock, however matches proper into Epic’s present roadmap. Epic has been increasing the previous’s scope in recent times. What started as a well-liked battle royale sport (technically a player-versus-environment sport earlier than that, if we’re nitpicking) has exploded right into a hub of user-generated sport modes and model collaborations.
In December, Epic additional signaled its dedication to increase Fortnite past its roots as a multiplayer shooter with the addition of Lego Fortnite, Rocket Racing and Fortnite Competition — three full standalone video games in fully totally different genres than the unique Fortnite.
The venture doesn’t but have a launch date past “soon(ish),” which means gamers gained’t be in for a multiyear wait on the bold collaboration, which apparently grew out of Epic’s time in a Disney Accelerator program again in 2017. Disney and Epic additionally already work carefully on model collaborations inside Fortnite, and plenty of common characters from Star Wars and the Marvel Cinematic Universe can be found as collectible in-game skins.
