Disney has purchased a £1.1billion ($1.5bilion) stake in Epic Games, it was revealed yesterday (February 7).

The official announcement on the Epic Games website states that the two companies will also be working together on a “persistent and social” game which will allow users to interact with various different Disney franchises. This new game is planned to be able to interoperate with Fortnite and will be made in Unreal Engine.

“In addition to being a world-class games experience, the new persistent universe will offer a multitude of opportunities for consumers to play, watch, shop and engage with content, characters and stories from Disney, Pixar, Marvel, Star Wars, Avatar and more. Players, gamers and fans will be able to create their own stories and experiences, express their fandom in a distinctly Disney way, and share content with each other,” the blog post explained.

An official statement has been released by both Tim Sweeney, CEO and founder of Epic Games, and Robert A. Iger, the chief executive officer of The Walt Disney Company.

“Our exciting new relationship with Epic Games will bring together Disney’s beloved brands and franchises with the hugely popular Fortnite in a transformational new games and entertainment universe. This marks Disney’s biggest entry ever into the world of games and offers significant opportunities for growth and expansion,” Iger stated.

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Late last year Epic Games launched three new Fortnite experiences, all spinning out of the base game. Lego Fortnite serves to allow players to be more creative than the original title, while Fortnite Festival takes the place of titles such as Rock Band in the rhythm gaming space. The final of the three, Rocket Racing, is a racing game from the developers of Rocket League.

It’s currently unknown whether the new Disney partnership will affect these titles, however.

In other gaming news, Final Fantasy series producer Yoshinori Kitase has said in an interview that the reason they remade Final Fantasy 7 is to prevent the game from being the “game that my dad played”.



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