• Disney shared its Q1 2024 earnings this week, with the company also announcing a sizeable investment in Epic Games.
• The pair will be working to create a persistent online universe that is connected to Fortnite.
• The investment is still awaiting regulatory approval, but would amount to $1.5 billion.

This week Disney shared its earnings for Q1 2024, with the company also using it highlight a number of significant announcements, including that Taylor Swift’s The Eras Tour movie will be exclusively available to stream on its Disney+ platform.

While that is welcome news, of more interest to us is the sizeable $1.5 billion investment that Disney announced it would be making in Epic Games, with the pair specifically aiming to bring a persistent online universe to fruition that’s connected to Fortnite, which is undoubtedly the publisher’s biggest piece of IP.

The full details of this Fortnite universe are yet to be unpacked, but along with the Epic Games title, Disney would also use the collaboration to bring several of its own key IPs into the metaverse.

In fact, based on what we’ve read, and seen in the teaser video below, it looks like Disney wants to create a Fortnite-esque theme park within the metaverse.

“In addition to being a world-class games experience and interoperating with Fortnite, the new persistent 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,” the company confirmed in a press release.

“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. This will all be powered by Unreal Engine,” it added.

“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,” enthused Bob Iger, CEO of The Walt Disney Company. 

Along with the promise of a Fortnite universe, the announcement looked at continuing collaborations on the gaming front.

Here we should see more in-game events that leverage Disney’s wide-array of IP, as the pair look to emulate the success of the Marvel Nexus War with Galactus, which drew more than 15.3 million concurrent players.

When it comes to gaming, Disney is acutely aware of the market that is there to be tapped, as well as how important licensing the IP in its vast library will be moving forward.

“The digital world is growing and evolving with more than 3 billion video game players worldwide who want to move safely and seamlessly between the worlds they love, unleash their own creativity, and experience great gameplay,” the release concluded.

The aforementioned investment is still subject to regulatory approval, so there is no official timeframe at the time of writing on when the Fortnite universe could come to fruition, but Disney has made its intention clear.