Fortnite is still one of the world’s biggest gaming franchises – and Disney’s investment in Epic Games is exciting. Fortunately, we’ve got ourselves interested in finding out whether and if yes, how this decision could affect the future of us players in Fortnite.
Fortnite has firmly established itself in the OD landscape as the go-to game for cross-overs in all and sundry from movies, to TV shows, anime, athletic personalities and so much more – and this status never looked to change.
But, did Disney really buy Fortnite?
Short answer? No. Long answer? Here we go, opening the floodgates to a host of newcomers to Fortnite and explaining what this means:
Indeed, it cannot be said that Disney has bought Fortnite. However, the House of Mouse sunk an enormous $1.5 billion into Fortnite’s creator, Epic Games, to create a Disney-oriented ‘persistent universe’ as built by Epic Games.
Disney’s share gives the company a large share of the Epic Games wealth and indeed suggests that every success song to Disney’s tune. Even though most of the discussions revolved around Fortnite, this partnership implies that subsequent games will be co-created and are expected to include Unreal Engine.
However, the financial backing was not only to drive turnovers or meet revenue targets. Disney is planning to create an entirely new world of gaming which is not going to require a trip on a magic carpet to get to.
The “persistent universe” will effectively be a new mode of play built into Fortnite—similar to LEGO Fortnite, which is a wholly different game. The Disney experience or game will run in a similar fashion if at all it will be available as a standalone application.
Okay, so what is Disney’s role in the Fortnite universe?
Details have not been revealed in their entirety yet but according to The Verge, Disney wants to stress that “important decisions have been already made”, for example, it does not plan to have every character wielding a gun like the Battle Royale counterparts. I find that some types of options may be different depending on certain circumstances.
Both the Avengers and the Incredibles have made their cameo in Fortnite, the latter of which can use weapons while Disney villains will arrive in October 2024. They are added to Disney brands present in Fortnite, which do not impose limitations on weapons, including many Avengers and Star Wars ‘characters’.
Every update to Fortnite so far has fit seamlessly into Battle Royale; that may change when Disney mode arrives, so don’t expect Mickey Mouse wielding SMGs when you transition to Zero Build.
However, many skins, characters, and properties will be independent of the present Fortnite domains; there will be a lot of options for the game – cars, Wall-E, and Finding Nemo are equally important brands of Disney but at the same time, they do not fit within the context of Fortnite.
But, will Fortnite change because of Disney?
Nope, nothing will change in Fortnite itself; apart from the growth of cooperation with Disney, which includes Marvel, Star Wars, and Pixar. Moreover, with Disney buying Fox in 2019, people could possibly see characters from cartoons The Simpsons, Avatar, and Garfield.
Perhaps what may change, however, are other collaborations and partnerships between Fortnite and other segments of media with which Disney might prefer not to work with competitors, a candidate for which would be DC which has been depicted in Fortnite, not to mention Marvel’s association but has been MIA from the item shop for almost a year by the time of writing of this article. So hopefully, we’ll meet you all at titled towers in your animated Disney Suits!
Until then, don’t forget to add this link to your bookmarks for more updates!
