Despite the massive recent layoffs at Epic Games, Disney says it hasn’t abandoned its plans to build a universe inside Fortnite. Epic is still fully on board, too–even though it just laid off the artist who created many of the original characters for its most successful game.
“We’re committed to building a games and entertainment universe with Disney,” Epic Games president Adam Sussman told TheWrap today. “The vision is unchanged, and we are excited by our progress.”
Star Wars and Marvel characters have already appeared in the game, and it appears that the next Disney/Fortnite crossover will see characters from Disney’s animated 1997 classic, Hercules, appearing in-game. But Disney’s got bigger plans than character skins.
“We are reaching consumers in innovative new ways–such as working with Epic Games to bring together Disney’s beloved brands and franchises with the hugely popular Fortnite in a transformational new games and entertainment universe,” Disney said in 2024, shortly after announcing it had invested $1.5 billion into Fortnite.
By 2025, it was teasing a Disney X Fortnite mode, and by 2026, new Disney CEO Josh D’Amoro was hinting that some future Disney movies may eventually premiere in Fortnite.
“It’s not just gonna be one character. It could be a new film premiering there, it could be the place that you decide to book your next cruise vacation. You could participate in the Super Bowl in some way there,” D’Amaro said last month.
Although Disney hasn’t publicly commented on Epic’s recent layoffs–which saw roughly 1,000 employees displaced–the company still seems to have plenty of faith in its partnership with Epic, even though Epic has admitted the layoffs were a result of a decline in player engagement and Epic “spending significantly more than we’re making,” according to Epic founder and CEO Tim Sweeney. The layoffs are part of a larger financial shakedown that includes over $500 million in cuts across marketing, contractor position, and unfilled roles.
“Despite Fortnite remaining one of the most successful games in the world, we’ve had challenges delivering consistent Fortnite magic with every season,” Sweeney said in a recent memo to staff. “We’re only in the early stages of returning to mobile and optimizing Fortnite for the world’s billions of smartphones; and in being the industry’s vanguard we have taken a lot of bullets in a battle which is only in the early days of paying off for ourselves and all developers.”