The entertainment giant is looking back on its billion-dollar investment in the makers of Fortnite and is planning entirely new, standalone game universes for the future.
Two and a half years ago, Disney invested $1.5 billion in Epic Games. The stake in theFortnite developer—and operator of a digital game store disguised as a free-to-play piñata—aims to “create a universe that blends gaming, storytelling, and the community’s creative expression.” Big talk that somehow sounds like the metaverse—or is it just me?
In any case, that’s what you hear from Disney when you read through the latest blog post on the Disney website or watch the accompanying video, “How Disney Is Shaping Its Future Through Games.” I’m not sure what it’s all supposed to mean—or, to put it another way: the flowery corporate speak gives the impression that it’s supposed to mean everything at once.
In any case, Disney’s ambition is to “create something truly transformative.”
Just the same old story?
Sean Shoptaw, Disney’s Executive Vice President of Global Games and Digital Entertainment, asserts in the aforementioned post that games have long since become a fundamental pillar of the entertainment landscape. They no longer want to simply retell movies and TV shows in a clumsy way or expand on them in a makeshift manner. Instead, the goal is to craft completely independent, original stories designed from the ground up for the video game medium. So far, so good.
On paper, this sounds exactly like what we as gamers want to hear, but of course, it’s also cold, hard business logic. It’s no coincidence that he mentions Disney Games generated a whopping four billion U.S. dollars in consumer spending in collaboration with licensing partners during the past fiscal year. According to Shoptaw, the portfolio now boasts an impressive nine games, each of which has generated more than one billion dollars in retail sales—including heavyweights like Kingdom Hearts and Marvel Strike Force.
However, the executive suite’s real focus is likely entirely on the next generation. For Gen Z and Gen Alpha, games are far more than mere entertainment; they serve as digital hangouts and social hubs for identity formation. To illustrate this demographic goldmine, the executive points to Marvel Rivals: a whopping 40 million players worldwide, 60 percent of whom are under 24 years old. On top of that, the company boasts the largest Discord community in the gaming sector.
And this is exactly where the connection to Epic Games comes full circle. One of Disney’s “biggest interactive bets” is its strategic partnership with Epic Games to create a cohesive universe where fans can play, watch, and get creative themselves.
Unsurprisingly, Shoptaw describes Fortnite as one of the world’s most significant social entertainment platforms. “And we definitely see tons of opportunities to bring our amazing characters, stories, and worlds into this universe and create something that’s truly uniquely Disney.”
Shoptaw leaves open exactly what that means, but I don’t think—and I hope—that it’s just about filling Fortnite with more Disney content. I interpret the mention of Fortnite here more as inspiration. Will this truly “transformative,” jack-of-all-trades solution ultimately be more than just a gigantic virtual marketplace targeting our wallets? I remain skeptical for now—even though I have to grudgingly admit that Disney, of course, has a lot of extremely strong brands that mean a lot to me.
Does that sound a little desperate?
Given what’s currently going on around the world, it’s certainly hard to attach any real weight to such grand statements. As recently as spring 2026, Disney ruthlessly slashed various departments, cutting 1,000 jobs. In July, even the mighty Pixar took a hit, despite the fact that *Inside Out 2* and *Toy Story 5* didn’t exactly bomb. And then I keep remembering how Disney has treated its internal studios in the past—from Black Rock Studio to LucasArts—and it still makes me sick to my stomach.
But hey, at least you can’t say they gave their licenses to the wrong people. Machine Games got to make a great Indy game,Marvel Tokonwas a big hit, and I at least found the latest Star Wars games worthwhile.
