In 2024, Epic Games and Disney announced a multi-billion-dollar partnership to build a new metaverse experience within Fortnite. | Credit: Shirlaine Forrest / Getty Images.
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Key Takeaways
Epic Games and Disney continue to collaborate on immersive experiences within Fortnite.
The two companies are building a metaverse where people can watch, shop, and play in one place.
Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg’s vision of a metaverse has so far failed to come to fruition.
Fortnite is partnering with Star Wars to bring the beloved IP to its vast Disney metaverse.
In 2024, Epic Games and Disney announced a multi-billion-dollar partnership to build new immersive experiences within Fortnite.
The new collaboration promises to be “an all-new games and entertainment universe that will further expand the reach of beloved Disney stories and experiences.”
Fortnite and Disney: New Content Launch Dates
Galactic Battle — May 2
The next big update in the Disney and Fortnite metaverse begins on May 2 with a five-part Star Wars event called Galactic Battle.
The event will change every week to a different Star Wars theme:
Imperial Takeover – May 2, 2025
The Pull of the Force – May 8, 2025
Mandalorian Rising – May 22, 2025
Star Destroyer Bombardment – May 29, 2025
Death Star Sabotage – June 7, 2025
The five-part saga will lead up to an in-game narrative live event that will make players feel “like they’ve got the fate of the whole galaxy in their hands.”
The new content will include:
Playable iconic characters from the Star Wars universe,
New shop items
New vehicles
New Maps
What Is the Fortnite and Disney Metaverse?
Within the universe, players can interact with iconic franchises such as Star Wars, Marvel, Pixar, and classic Disney characters.
Unlike typical gaming crossover events, this initiative envisions an immersive platform where storytelling, social interaction, and commerce merge seamlessly in real-time.
“This will enable us to bring together our incredible collection of stories and experiences from across the company for a broad audience in ways we have only dreamed of before,” said Josh D’Amaro, Chairman, Disney Experiences.
“Epic Games’ industry-leading technology and Fortnite’s open ecosystem will help us reach consumers where they are so they can engage with Disney in the ways that are most relevant to them,” he added.
A Digital Ecosystem
In an interview with The Verge, Epic Games CEO Tim Sweeney noted that gamers are increasingly spending money on digital items in games they trust and expect to engage with in the long term.
“If we have an interoperable economy, then that will increase player trust that today’s spending on buying digital goods results in things that they’re going to own for a long period of time, and it will work in all the places they go,” he said.
According to Newzoo’s 2025 research, 58% of PC gamers’ spending is now on microtransactions, compared to just 28% who bought full games in 2024.
Disney’s vast creative library and global brand recognition, paired with Fortnite’s massive user base—over 650 million accounts as of 2024—could push forward the evolving vision of the metaverse.
Meta Fails To Launch Metaverse
When Mark Zuckerberg rebranded Facebook to Meta in 2021, he made a bold and expensive bet that the metaverse would be the next stage of human connection and technology.
However, despite billions invested in VR hardware and virtual worlds, Meta’s vision never fully materialized.
User engagement for its flagship metaverse platform, Horizon Worlds, remained low, and its VR technology struggled to gain widespread appeal.
Zuckerberg’s metaverse vision did not come true for many reasons, many of which Epic Games and Disney appear to be addressing.
One big reason was the hardware needed to enter Meta’s metaverse. VR headsets, such as the Quest Pro, have remained expensive and bulky for casual consumers.
Another reason the vision never caught on was the quality of Horizon Worlds, which received intensely bad reviews upon launch for its poor graphics and lackluster immersion.
In contrast, Fortnite is free to play on widely available devices, including consoles, PCs, and mobile phones, greatly decreasing the barrier to entry.
Kurt Robson is a London-based reporter at CCN, specialising in the fast-moving worlds of crypto and emerging technology. He began his career covering local news in Cornwall after graduating from Falmouth University with First Class Honours in Journalism. There, he cut his teeth on everything from council meetings to missing swans.
He quickly rose through the ranks to become a frontline journalist at several of the UK’s leading national newspapers. Over the years, he has interviewed musicians and celebrities, reported from courtrooms and crime scenes, and secured multiple front-page exclusives.
Following the upheaval of the COVID-19 pandemic, Kurt shifted his focus to technology journalism—just ahead of the AI boom. With a natural curiosity and a trained eye for emerging trends, he has found a new rhythm in reporting on innovation.
At CCN, Kurt's work focuses on the cutting edge of crypto, blockchain, AI, and the evolving digital world. Drawing on his background in people-first reporting and his deep interest in disruptive tech, Kurt delivers stories that are insightful, entertaining, and human-centric.
