Epic Games and Disney’s ongoing partnership looks like it’s going to reach a new level after reports that the two companies are working on an extraction shooter surfaced a few days ago. As one of the most powerful media companies in the world, Disney investing 1.5 billion dollars into Epic Games in February wasn’t all that surprising. However, the collaborators leaning into extraction shooter territory is pretty unexpected.
I don’t really know how to feel about these reports. As a kid who grew up with a constant wave of Disney movies, certain franchises still fill me with a lot of nostalgia. On the flip side, though, Disney fatigue is very real, especially with the company buying franchises like Marvel and Star Wars and releasing a seemingly non-stop stream of spin-offs and new mainline chapters. Regardless of how one feels about Disney’s vice grip on pop culture, there’s no arguing that the company knows how to make money. Jumping into the quickly growing world of extraction shooters is a move that may be surprising, but it also makes a lot of sense. This is going to require a really delicate balancing act that might prove to be a lot easier said than done, though.
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Disney and Epic Games’ Rumored Extraction Shooter Has to Tread Carefully WIth Its IP
Thanks to recent hits like ARC Raiders and Marathon, extraction shooters are starting to gain traction as a genre that could potentially be the next major trend in gaming. The battle royale surge that has overshadowed the industry for the past decade has seemingly come to an end, and Fortnite won the race. However, Epic Games’ success with Fortnite looks like it might be facing a bit of a downturn. Just recently, Epic Games layoffs saw 1,000 jobs cut. The company cited a dwindling player base as one of the reasons why, and the reports about this mysterious extraction shooter hint that Epic Games is looking for a new success story.
Guess the games from the emojis.
Guess the games from the emojis.
Easy (120s)Medium (90s)Hard (60s)
A Disney and Epic Games extraction shooter has plenty of franchises and characters to work with, but that also presents the project’s biggest problems. Even though the Disney brand is filled with possibilities, only a few of the company’s many franchises really fit the extraction shooter genre. What’s even more challenging is that the series that do fit the vibe run the risk of being unoriginal or boring iterations compared to other game adaptations within these franchises.
Marvel and Star Wars Are the Obvious Choices, But They Already Have Plenty of Game Adaptations
A Marvel or Star Wars extraction shooter definitely has the potential to work well. The only issue is that this leaves both brands competing with themselves. Games like Marvel Rivals and the upcoming Marvel Tokon: Fighting Soldiers and Marvel’s Wolverine might take up a lot of space. When it comes to Star Wars, there is even more to choose from. The Star Wars Jedi series, Star Wars Outlaws, and a variety of in-development projects that include Zero Company, Galactic Racer, Eclipse, Fate of the Old Republic, and even the KOTOR remake are on the way. There are tons of new Star Wars games planned, and adding one more to the pile might be overkill.
Fortnite’s Marvel and Star Wars Crossovers Leave an Extraction Shooter in a Tough Spot
It’s clear that Epic Games knows how to handle Marvel and Star Wars well, but an extraction shooter with the same skin designs featured in Fortnite may just feel more like a new mode than a fresh game worth dedicating oneself to. Star Wars and Marvel have been some of Fortnite‘s best crossovers. An extraction shooter may play differently than a battle royale or special franchise-specific modes, but if the game features the same Fortnite-style art direction, then it’s not going to really feel all that new.
Thanks to recent hits like ARC Raiders and Marathon, extraction shooters are starting to gain traction as a genre that could potentially be the next major trend in gaming.
Imagine Beauty and the Beast‘s Belle or Mickey Mouse and Goofy shooting another Disney character with a gun. See, it’s weird. If Disney chooses its original characters, that would at least stand out more than Star Wars or Marvel. Disney is so protective of its own IP, though, that it might be unlikely that the company will allow actual guns to be used in the game. Fortnite isn’t bloody by any means, but how an extraction shooter handles “violence” is likely being discussed heavily by Disney and Epic Games.
I could see a scenario that has Disney taking a Splatoon-like approach where players fight with non-violent weapons. Each character could also have weapons specific to their own franchise. For example, Buzz Lightyear could use the laser mounted to his wrist or Zurg’s blaster. Adjustments like that would make a lot more sense, but this is purely speculation at this point. Disney has been a little more lenient with its IP when it comes to Fortnite crossovers, so the company and Epic Games could surprise fans by allowing actual guns in an extraction shooter. Speaking of Toy Story characters, some of the newest Disney cosmetics to come to the battle royale are Fortnite‘s Buzz Lightyear skin and Hercules. So, Disney clearly doesn’t have issues with certain characters wielding a gun. Major mascots like Mickey Mouse might be a different story, though.
Epic Games and Disney Have Yet to Lift the Veil on Their Secret Extraction Shooter
According to the original Bloomberg report, this project may be a lot further along than expected. The report featured both past and current Epic Games employees who claimed that the game was actively going through internal review. There’s even a chance that it could come out as early as November of this year. This would probably be a bad idea, since GTA 6‘s release date is bound to take up a lot of gamers’ lives, but only time will tell. There are plenty of younger gamers who are too young to play a crime-fueled Rockstar game, so an extraction shooter filled with fan favorite Disney characters might actually be Epic Games’ next big thing.
