Bloomberg published an interesting report on the company led by Tim Sweeney, and it revealed some oddities.
You may recall that, in February 2024, Disney invested $1.5 billion in Epic Games, the developer of Fortnite, with the ambitious plan to create a permanent Disney universe within Fortnite based on Disney franchises. This deal has already produced results with the launch of Disneyland in Fortnite. According to Bloomberg, the next result is expected in November. This release is reportedly an incredibly important one for Epic, as it will mark the beginning of their comeback.
Despite being one of the most popular games worldwide in recent years, Fortnite has failed to meet internal expectations, according to current and former employees interviewed by Bloomberg. Epic regularly released products before employees felt they had resonated with consumers. Epic is now banking on its upcoming Disney games to make a comeback and meet internal expectations once again. The first game, set to launch in November, is a shooter similar to Embark Studios’ Arc Raiders but with Disney characters battling enemies until reaching the extraction point. Internal testers have expressed concern that the game’s mechanics aren’t very original. However, some employees are optimistic that Epic will improve the game before its release.
If it does indeed come to pass toward the end of the year, it will be interesting to see how players react to this approach. Liz Markman, Epic’s global communications director, stated that Bloomberg’s information does not reflect the goals of the collaboration with Disney. They are building a new gaming and entertainment universe based on Disney experiences. However, it appears that Disney is not satisfied with Epic’s timeline. Markman adds that Epic’s timelines have always been ambitious. Developers have largely been assigned to projects with upcoming release dates, while smaller prototype teams are working on projects further in the future.
A Disney spokesperson said that the company remains focused on its long-term partnership with Epic, which continues to show strong momentum. They added that their work toward building a revolutionary gaming and entertainment universe remains unchanged. However, Bloomberg claims that Epic Games routinely deletes large numbers of accumulated bug reports en masse, even though they have not been resolved. When asked about the generative AI-based Darth Vader in Fortnite, which launched with bugs and didn’t always say what it was supposed to, Markman said they’re creating ambitious projects, releasing them quickly, and fixing them over time. Rapid progress is the optimal compromise for the games they’re making these days. This is a different approach than during the single-player era of Unreal Tournament and Gears of War.
However, Markman denied that the development of Darth Vader had been rushed. She also rejected the claim that Epic’s COO is known for yelling at employees, which is why some are afraid to speak up against him. According to Markman, these claims confuse swearing used for emphasis with swearing directed at people. The latter is not tolerated at Epic, nor does Daniel Vogel behave that way. The swearing and yelling suggest that tension is rising within the company, as evidenced by employees speaking openly about the atmosphere in the company’s inner circles.
The goal of these Disney projects remains to be seen, as does whether they can truly restore Epic’s standing or save Fortnite – whatever that means, given that it’s one of the most popular games.
