Disney Invests 1.5 Billion in Epic Games to create Disney branded titles

[tkitch]

Summary

 

Disney has invested 1.5 Billion dollars into Epic Games, to have Epic become the studio that produces Disney Games.  

 

Quotes

Quote

“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,” said Robert A. Iger, Chief Executive Officer, The Walt Disney Company. “This marks Disney’s biggest entry ever into the world of games and offers significant opportunities for growth and expansion. We can’t wait for fans to experience the Disney stories and worlds they love in groundbreaking new ways.”

 

My thoughts

 

Well, for now it just means that Epic has a lot of capital with which to work on developing current, as well as NEW Disney titles.

 

Long Term?  If things go well, there's a very VERY non-zero chance that disney outright buys Epics entirely, similar to how they did with Pixar.  Fortnite's getting the Disney treatment, and that means it may stick around for years longer than it already was going to!

 

Sources

https://thewaltdisneycompany.com/disney-and-epic-games-fortnite/

 

https://finance.yahoo.com/video/disney-invests-1-5b-fortnite-143730694.html

 

https://www.theverge.com/2024/2/7/24065281/disney-epic-games-investment-fortnite-metaverse

[Alex Atkin UK]

10 minutes ago, tkitch said:

Long Term?  If things go well, there's a very VERY non-zero chance that disney outright buys Epics entirely, similar to how they did with Pixar.  Fortnite's getting the Disney treatment, and that means it may stick around for years longer than it already was going to!

And we thought Epic couldn't get any worse.

[OhioYJ]

12 minutes ago, tkitch said:

We can’t wait for fans to experience the Disney stories

Well if they are Epic exclusives, there's a zero percent chance of me experiencing them. 

[da na]

Hopefully this doesn't become another shovelware studio that Disney shuts down in 4 years once they finally hit their stride and start creating something decent...

[Senzelian]

F*ck you disney.

[SimplyChunk]

27 minutes ago, tkitch said:

If things go well, there's a very VERY non-zero chance that disney outright buys Epics entirely

They never bough EA.  They worked with EA for YEARS.  EA even said they were up for sale at one point and Disney wasn't interested

[tkitch]

4 minutes ago, SimplyChunk said:

They never bough EA.  They worked with EA for YEARS.  EA even said they were up for sale at one point and Disney wasn't interested

gaming has become a muuuuuuch bigger marketplace than it used to be.

And now that Epic won the right to have its own app store everywhere?  That's a lucrative market to be in.

 

[Forbidden Wafer]

This is actually good if they have the freedom to make good stuff. If Disney is controlling the production, garbage incoming.

 

[LAwLz]

54 minutes ago, Alex Atkin UK said:

And we thought Epic couldn't get any worse.

A i the only one who likes Epic games? I don't really see why they get so much hate. 

 

They have been fighting to lower fees and increase profits to game developers.

They have helped uncover a lot of illegal practices from both Google and Apple.

They are a counter balance to the near monopoly that steam has. 

Their game engine is fantastic and really pushing the industry forward. 

 

 

If their biggest crimes are things like "they made a few game exclusive to their launcher" and "their store lacks a cart" then I'd say they are angels compared to most other gaming companies. 

 

Maybe there is something I am missing, but all the good they have done seems far greater than the potentially slightly negative things I've heard them do,yet people talk about them as if they Epic games came over to their house and ran over their dog on purpose. 

 

It is possible that I have missed something though so feel free to enlighten me. 

[Caroline]

 

I'm interested in the titles for the Chinese market though.

[OhioYJ]

15 minutes ago, LAwLz said:

A i the only one who likes Epic games? I don't really see why they get so much hate. 

 

They have been fighting to lower fees and increase profits to game developers.

Maybe. I'm of the opinion they do shady things with the goal of creating their own monopoly, all under the guise of being the "good guy." They have an inferior product, and they know it, and have no intentions of making it better, so they just keep trying to "buy" a user base by giving away games. 

 

They don't want competition or choice for games, or developers. 

 

Darqs story is a good example of this. The developer wouldn't go exclusive so they disn't want his game on the Epic store. 

 

I'm all for developers making more money IF it's feasible. These games should ideally be on the store for a very a long time. That means the game store has to provide "support", bandwidth, all the misc fees etc on this stuff for everyone that purchased that game on whatever they made off that purchase. So if it's a $15 is 10% reasonable, is 30% unreasonable? I really don't know. What I do know is EGS is not profitable with the way they are currently running. 

[LAwLz]

44 minutes ago, OhioYJ said:

Maybe. I'm of the opinion they do shady things with the goal of creating their own monopoly, all under the guise of being the "good guy."

What makes you think they have the goal of creating a monopoly? I guess it is kind the goal of all for-profit companies, but I kind of doubt they actually believe they will succeed, nor do I think it is a serious risk.

 

This seems like a fairly poor justification to hate something. I mean, how many other companies can this assumption and conclusion be applied to? I just comes across as trying to justify hating something that doesn't deserve it, because in your mind in the future they might do something bad.

 

I usually believe that good actions should be rewarded and bad actions be frowned upon. But right now you're frowning upon something that is doing good because in your mind they would do bad things if they could. 

How about judging companies based on their actions instead of hypothetical scenarios that we make up in our heads?

 

 

44 minutes ago, OhioYJ said:

Darqs story is a good example of this. The developer wouldn't go exclusive so they disn't want his game on the Epic store. 

Yes, that's one of the handful of games I've heard Epic offered an exclusivity deal to. 

I don't like exclusives either, but sadly it is a reality in the world of gaming. But if you are so against store executives then I assume you must really hate Steam with a passion, right? Because they have a ton more exclusives than Epic Game Store.

 

44 minutes ago, OhioYJ said:

So if it's a $15 is 10% reasonable, is 30% unreasonable? I really don't know. What I do know is EGS is not profitable with the way they are currently running. 

Epic Game Store isn't losing money because they don't take 30% of payments. They are losing money because they are spending a lot of money trying to build a user base by doing things like giving away free games, offering developers large sums of money to put games in their store and so on.

It just goes to show how dangerous a monopoly like Steam can be, because it means basically nobody else can enter the market. There is too much friction.

 

 

So again, what has Epic Games done that makes you dislike them so much?

I don't think dreaming up scenarios where they are a bad guy and then treating them like they actually did those things are a valid reason, just like I wouldn't say "if OhioYJ had the chance they would probably spit on a homeless person, so that's why I hate them. THey haven't actually done that, but I feel like they would do it if given the chance".

 

If making some games exclusive on their store is the only thing they are actually guilty of then, again, they are basically angels by comparison to other gaming companies. 

Am I missing something or is this just tribalistic bullshit where fanboys feel like they have to pick sides and only root for one store, which seems to be Steam right now? 

[jre84]

what games??

 

Like 3 good games of 2023. my library would be huge if games were worth buying! can someone mention 2023-2024s top 10 games in general order. thanks

[Fasterthannothing]

O boy a crappy company getting paid and eventually sold to an even worse company. I mean I guess they are made for each other though both try and build a monopoly of exclusives in markets that functioned perfectly fine without exclusives.

[SimplyChunk]

1 minute ago, Fasterthannothing said:

a monopoly of exclusives in markets that functioned perfectly fine without exclusives

Get back in your cage!  The gaming industry HAS NEVER FUNCTIONED without exclusives

[OhioYJ]

21 minutes ago, LAwLz said:

What makes you think they have the goal of creating a monopoly? I guess it is kind the goal of all for-profit companies, but I kind of doubt they actually believe they will succeed, nor do I think it is a serious risk.

This is true (the end goal), it is normally the goal of capitalism, and unfortunately generally what tends to happen. Still doesn't make it a good thing.

 

23 minutes ago, LAwLz said:

I usually believe that good actions should be rewarded and bad actions be frowned upon. But right now you're frowning upon something that is doing good because in your mind they would do bad things if they could. How about judging companies based on their actions instead of hypothetical scenarios that we make up in our heads?

"Good"? Just playing devil's advocate here, but I'm not sure Epic's "minor" wins in Court can be considered doing "good." Epic is just looking out for their bottom line, not out there trying to help you are any of us. They didn't want to play by Google / Apples Rules so they decided to try and go the legal route. I'm pretty certain it still hasn't quite worked out the way they have hoped.

 

34 minutes ago, LAwLz said:

Yes, that's one of the handful of games I've heard Epic offered an exclusivity deal to. I don't like exclusives either, but sadly it is a reality in the world of gaming. But if you are so against store executives then I assume you must really hate Steam with a passion, right? Because they have a ton more exclusives than Epic Game Store.

Except I'm sure most take the deal. Why not, they make money. This developer took the high road (It's actually one of the very few games I've paid full price for.) However in this case, I have more of a problem with Epic rejecting the option of allowing the game on their store? This is the dirty part of this story. While I'm sure there are games that are exclusives to Steam, have you heard of a similar story about Steam? Anyone heard of Steam going around buying titles up to pull from other game stores? I own Valve titles for other systems actually. 

 

40 minutes ago, LAwLz said:

Epic Game Store isn't losing money because they don't take 30% of payments. They are losing money because they are spending a lot of money trying to build a user base by doing things like giving away free games, offering developers large sums of money to put games in their store and so on.

It just goes to show how dangerous a monopoly like Steam can be, because it means basically nobody else can enter the market. There is too much friction.

They can blame Steam all they want for users disliking them all they want. However, at what point does that just become an excuse. Do you hear the same kind of public disdain for GOG? Most people I know only have good things to say about GOG. I'm also personally a fan.

 

So far I haven't made up anything, I think you just see Epic off on this righteous quest, and I'm definitely not on that mindset.

[LAwLz]

27 minutes ago, OhioYJ said:

This is true (the end goal), it is normally the goal of capitalism, and unfortunately generally what tends to happen. Still doesn't make it a good thing.

It doesn't make it a good thing, but I fail to see why that is a reason to dislike Epic Games over any other company. 

 

27 minutes ago, OhioYJ said:

"Good"? Just playing devil's advocate here, but I'm not sure Epic's "minor" wins in Court can be considered doing "good." Epic is just looking out for their bottom line, not out there trying to help you are any of us. They didn't want to play by Google / Apples Rules so they decided to try and go the legal route. I'm pretty certain it still hasn't quite worked out the way they have hoped.

You're not playing "devil's advocate". 

Also, Epics wins were not minor. Even on the points they lost they made a very big and positive change in the industry, such as making Apple lower the fees for other developers. That's good. 

 

I also think you're once again adding quite a lot of bad faith and cynisism into your interpretation of the situation. 

Again, you're making up scenarios in your head and using that to justify your bad feelings about the company without them ever having done the things you dislike them for. That's weird to put it mildly. 

 

 

27 minutes ago, OhioYJ said:

They can blame Steam all they want for users disliking them all they want. However, at what point does that just become an excuse. Do you hear the same kind of public disdain for GOG?

I am not trying to make "excuses". I am trying to understand what makes Epic Games so different from let's say GOG or Steam, which are two stores that doesn't get anywhere near as much hate. Basically everything you have said so far except offering deals to developers that go exclusive can apply to GOG as well, and yet I don't see anyone reacting this way to GOG. 

That's why I think it's weird and want explanations for why people get so emotional about the epic game store. 

 

It really feels like some it became cool to hate epic games and then people jumped on a bandwagon. I am trying to find reasons that disproves that view right now and so far you're not making a great job disproving my belief. 

 

 

Do you have any other reason for hating epic games outside of:

1) They offered some developers money to go exclusive. 

2) Made up scenarios where you believe they would do something bad even though they have so far not done anything to indicate this to be true. 

3) Their store lacked a basket. 

 

Because honestly, these are the only three arguments I've ever seen be made, and they are kind of pathetic in my eyes. That is all. 

[OhioYJ]

1 hour ago, LAwLz said:

I am not trying to make "excuses". I am trying to understand what makes Epic Games so different from let's say GOG or Steam, which are two stores that doesn't get anywhere near as much hate. Basically everything you have said so far except offering deals to developers that go exclusive can apply to GOG as well, and yet I don't see anyone reacting this way to GOG. 

That's why I think it's weird and want explanations for why people get so emotional about the epic game store.

 

People don't hate those, because they are genuinely better products. Same reason people don't like most cable companies, it's not just because they are the cable company. It's because they generally aren't that great for the end user. If you list features of EGS, GOG, and Steam and make a user pick one, are you really going to pick EGS? The only feature they have literally, is they will "buy" your loyalty by giving you stuff. Other than that, they are going to come up in a very distance third place every time.

 

1 hour ago, LAwLz said:

Do you have any other reason for hating epic games outside of:

1) They offered some developers money to go exclusive. 

2) Made up scenarios where you believe they would do something bad even though they have so far not done anything to indicate this to be true. 

3) Their store lacked a basket. 

 

Because honestly, these are the only three arguments I've ever seen be made, and they are kind of pathetic in my eyes. That is all. 

I don't like the exclusives, but it's not the end of the world. I vote with my wallet, and I'll just wait. Sony has exclusives too. I just wait, and when they come to a game store that I feel like is acceptable, I'll buy those games. If they are truly exclusive to the Epic game store, I just don't play them. I'll be just fine. The part that I find so offensive, is when they are exclusive or nothing.

 

As far as "basket", well their store lacks many things, is anyone surprised about something as simple as this?

 

In the end, I think you already know you won't convince anyone to change their mind on the EGS, just as no one will change your mind on the EGS. However that's the great thing, we are allowed to disagree.

 

 

[Seccedonien]

I think the idea of Disney acquiring Epic in the future is way more scary seeing how that means Disney would own the Unreal Engine if owning Epic games is the long term plan here.

 

I wonder how many will miss the Epic store or most of Epic's games and Fortnite will keep existing as long as it rakes in the money like it has been, no reason for Disney to touch that, but the engine is where we might really get screwed over because they could lock out their competition from using that in gaming and animation (and whatever else the engine is used for).

[suicidalfranco]

Too bad disney doesn't have stories worth playing

[Monkey Dust]

3 minutes ago, suicidalfranco said:

Too bad disney doesn't have stories worth playing

You're not ready for a Frozen looter shooter?

[xAcid9]

21 minutes ago, Monkey Dust said:

You're not ready for a Frozen looter shooter?

Hear me out.. Disney princesses MOBA. 

[OhioYJ]

7 hours ago, Seccedonien said:

I think the idea of Disney acquiring Epic in the future is way more scary seeing how that means Disney would own the Unreal Engine if owning Epic games is the long term plan here.

This would be the only real value for Disney to actually aquire Epic. Especially as much computer animation they are using in films today.  

 

I was thinking this morning it might be to get Disney in Fornite as advertising to get kids excited about Disney again, but being able to aquire the unreal engine might make more sense. 

[Doobeedoo]

Ahaha, good one.

Can Epic actually make new UT though? You know, the very game that it's the engine is named at. Sad. 

[BachChain]

The most surprising thing is that Disney still had a couple billion dollars left to burn. If nothing else, you have to commend their dedication to spreading their patented Anti-Midas® Touch™ technology to absolutely everything they possibly can.