Disney reportedly wants to acquire Epic Games

For years now, Epic Games and Disney have had a close working relationship. Unreal Engine has been used for Disney Park attractions and film productions, while Disney has also leveraged Fortnite to promote its treasure trove of IP. It is now being claimed that Disney executives are waiting for their opportunity to swoop in and buy Epic Games outright. 

At this point, Disney and Epic Games just have a partnership. One that has seen Disney invest $1.5B in Epic Games for future content, including a new Disney experience built inside Fortnite. According to tech journalist Alex Heath, since signing that deal, a number of Disney executives have been mulling over acquiring all of Epic Games.

Speaking in a podcast appearance, Heath said that he knows “for a fact there are senior executives in Disney who want them to buy Epic and are just waiting for the right moment”. The podcast host, Matt Belloni, added that new Disney CEO, Josh D'Amaro, has also been particularly keen on Disney's continued partnership with Epic Games and prefers investments like that over Disney's now cancelled $1 billion deal with OpenAI.

Right now, Epic Games is still primarily controlled by Tim Sweeney, who founded the company decades ago. As the founder, Sweeney also has the controlling vote, so any potential sale of Epic Games would need to be approved by him.

KitGuru Says: Disney has owned some talented game development studios during its time but has rarely known what to do with them once set up, leading to numerous closures and cancellations. I wouldn't expect that to change with the acquisition of Epic Games. 

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