(Image provided by Walt Disney Company)
Disney announces $1.5 billion investment in Epic Games and a new Fortnite-related game universe focused on Disney's broader “stories and experiences,” with a suite of hugely popular series and characters The latest attempt to crack the code of new media.
“Our exciting new relationship with Epic Games brings together Disney's beloved brands and franchises and the hugely popular Fortnite in a game-changing new world of games and entertainment,” Disney said in a statement. CEO Bob Iger said in a release. “This represents Disney's largest ever entry into the world of gaming and provides a huge opportunity for growth and expansion. Fans will be able to experience the Disney stories and worlds they love in groundbreaking new ways. I can’t wait.”
The two companies have collaborated in a variety of ways over the years, including using Epic's Unreal Engine visual effects tools for the virtual production of live-action films and other blockbusters. The Lion King, Streaming series based on Star Wars mandalorian, and kingdom hearts 3 Video game. Disney also plans to engage “hundreds of millions of players with a variety of in-game collaborations, digital merchandise sales, promotions, live events, and more related to Epic's hugely popular game Fortnite and other titles and experiences.'' ” he said.
However, Disney has long been primarily a licensor rather than a maker of games, letting outside developers create hits such as: marvel spidermanOne of the most successful titles of 2023.
The gaming business has become a powerful industry in its own right, far beyond Hollywood. At Wednesday's DEG Entech Fest conference, Sarah Henschel, principal analyst at OMDIADIA, said gaming will generate an estimated $225 billion globally in 2023, part of about $1 trillion in global entertainment spending. Stated. Games are becoming increasingly appealing as Hollywood studios look for ways to engage fans of movies and television series in different kinds of lucrative new experiences.
new fortniteRelated Disney games are “consumers who love Disney, Pixar, Marvel, Star Wars, Avatar etc. Players, gamers, and fans will be able to create their own stories and experiences, express their fandom in ways unique to Disney, and share content with each other in any way they choose. ”
Tim Sweeney, Founder and CEO of Epic, said: “Disney was one of the first companies to believe in the potential of Fortnite to connect their world with ours, and they use Unreal Engine across their portfolio. We're collaborating on something completely new to build a durable, open, and interoperable ecosystem that connects the Fortnite and Fortnite communities.”
Disney recently announced an agreement with Apple AAPL to make 150 movies available in 3D format and stream its Disney+ entertainment service on Apple's just-launched Vision Pro immersive spatial computing headset.
But the deal with Epic is a big deal for Disney's high-tech gaming business, including its 1998 acquisition of search engine Infoseek and its $350 million acquisition of Club Penguin, a massively multiplayer online game for kids in 2005. It is also the latest in a long series of largely unsuccessful forays into the United States. Further earnouts, and his MakerMKR Studios, his multi-channel network of YouTube influencer sites, which he acquired in 2014 for $500 million and further earnouts.
All three efforts proved costly failures, but a repurposed and rebranded Infoseek transitioned into a general entertainment portal for Disney-related sites such as ABC.com.
When Disney acquired parent company Lucasfilm from George Lucas in 2012 for about $4 billion, it also acquired LucasArts' productive games division. For over 30 years, LucasArts has created dozens of games specifically related to the Star Wars universe, but also Indiana's Jones, several popular Adventure His titles, and other genres. Disney shut down LucasArts soon after the acquisition, but revived it in a modest way in 2021 as Lucasfilm Games, primarily as a licensing division for games related to Lucasfilm properties.
Disney is the only major company to have acquired part of Epic Games, which in conjunction with Unreal Engine operates a marketplace for all kinds of 3D digital assets used in games, visual effects, and other applications. . It also operates the Steam Store, which sells games and immersive experiences from many developers.
fortnite It's probably the most successful in-house game Epic has ever produced, but calling it a game understates its strong social elements, allowing millions of players to connect and share. , provide a gathering place for conversation.
Fortnite is also home to live online concerts by celebrities such as rapper Travis Scott, and countless “skins” that players earn or purchase to customize their in-game avatars. Many brands, from Disney-owned Marvel to Balenciaga to Superplastic, sell skins in Fortnite and even real-world versions, generating significant revenue and brand engagement.
Other companies with stakes in Epic include Chinese gaming giant Tencent and PlayStation maker Sony.
As subscription streaming dominates the U.S. market, other Hollywood companies are also looking to invest in the growing gaming space. Over the past two years, NetflixNFLX has acquired a number of studios that make mobile games and licensed other titles. More recently, Netflix executives said they plan to invest in more sophisticated titles, including updated versions of three older titles. grand theft auto A title from RockStar Games and TakeTwo Interactive.
Sony, of course, not only owns Sony Pictures Entertainment, which sells movies and TV shows to much of Hollywood, but also owns the best-selling game console, the PlayStation, and a series of companies that have developed titles such as It also owns a game studio. The Last of Us, and various spiderman game.
A few weeks ago, Warner Bros. Discovery WBD executives also said they wanted to expand their gaming efforts into new types of genres and titles. Unlike Disney and many other Hollywood studios, WBD has had its own significant gaming division over its 20 years, now called Warner Bros. Games, and owns numerous development studios in North America and the United Kingdom. Masu.
Last year, WB Games' Harry Potter inspired hogwarts legacy It was a massive critical and consumer hit. WBD plans to focus on more titles from several major series, including the DC Super Hero Universe, Harry Potter, and Fighting Evergreen mortal kombat.
The Fortnite and Epic deals come in recent days, following Tuesday's news that Disney's ESPN division will partner with Warner Bros. Discovery and Fox to launch a standalone sports-focused streaming service later this year. This is Disney's second major announcement.
The announcement was surprisingly lacking in details regarding price, name, management, release date, and almost every other important thing. But for Disney CEO Bob Iger, the announcement comes today as Mr. Iger fights a proxy battle with activist investor Nelson Peltz and his Trian Partners. The timing was good for the company's quarterly results. One of Peltz's main complaints concerned the future of ESPN.
But sports services are revolutionizing the way traditional broadcast and cable broadcasts make the most valuable content available to consumers: sports. The impact on the entire cable industry, the non-sports portion of our three partner companies, and the rest of streaming is expected to be significant.
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