Less than a year after shutting down its division for developing metaverse strategies, the Walt Disney Company is diving back into the metaverse arena.
On February 7, the company announced its collaboration with Epic Games on a games and entertainment universe and an acquisition of a $1.5 billion equity stake in the Fortnite developer.
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The announcement highlights a vision of a universe where players and fans can create their own experiences by playing, shopping, and engaging with content related to characters and stories they love (from Disney, Pixar, Marvel, and more).
According to Robert A. Iger, the Chief Executive Officer of the Walt Disney Company, this collaboration with Epic Games is:
Disney's biggest entry ever into the world of games.
The CEO and founder of Epic Games, Tim Sweeney, speaks of bringing together the Disney and Fortnite communities.
Although details about the project's launch date remain undisclosed, Epic's powerful game engine, Unreal Engine, is set to underpin this ambitious initiative.
On the same day as the announcement, Disney released its first-quarter 2024 earnings. Despite facing challenges in the box office and streaming sectors in 2023, Disney surpassed revenue estimates for the quarter. The company announced a dividend increase of 50%, reflecting confidence in its financial outlook.
Following the news, Disney's stock price experienced a surge of around 7%, underscoring investors' optimism surrounding Disney's renewed foray into the metaverse realm, according to Google Finance data.
Disney's collaboration with Epic Games marks a significant shift in strategy. With a vision of immersive experiences and a powerful partnership between two major players in entertainment, this venture's future holds great promise.
It is not the first time Epic has collaborated on such ambitious projects. In April 2022, the company secured a $2 billion funding round from Sony and Kirbki to build a metaverse.
However, in September 2023, it experienced a setback as it had to downsize its workforce by 16%, attributing the move to overambitious revenue expectations from metaverse-related ventures.
