The rumor, in brief
Fortnite is already packed with Disney characters and branding, and Disney has previously committed $1.5 billion to Epic Games to help build out what the companies have described as a “huge Disney universe” inside the shooter. So yes, the idea of Disney wanting more than a stake in the company does not exactly come out of nowhere.
According to tech reporter Alex Heath, who discussed the topic on The Town podcast, there are senior Disney executives who would like the company to go further and buy Epic outright.
“I know for a fact there are senior executives in Disney who want them to buy Epic and are just waiting for that moment,”
Heath added that if Epic ever chose to stop operating as an independent company, Disney would be the most obvious landing spot “for a lot of reasons.”
Why Disney keeps showing up in the conversation
Heath’s remarks line up with both the existing Disney-Epic partnership and the thinking of some people inside Disney. Josh D’Amaro, described in the report as a recently named CEO at the company, was among the executives who strongly backed the original investment in Epic. Former Disney executive Kevin Mayer has also said that bringing Fortnite and Epic Games under Disney’s umbrella would be “a great addition” to its assets.
That said, none of this means a takeover is actually happening. Heath said on the podcast that some Disney executives do not think buying Epic would be a good move. And the long-discussed plan to open a digital Disney world inside Fortnite has been floating around for about two years now, with the current results amounting to a few layoffs at Epic and a racist AI Darth Vader. A very normal timeline, naturally.
So the current state of affairs is simple: there are signs, there are opinions, and there is no deal. Yet.
