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Disney Reportedly Keen on Acquiring Fortnite Maker Epic Games at Some Point

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Disney could reportedly acquire Fortnite maker Epic Games at some point. Some senior executives at the media and entertainment conglomerate are said to be interested in buying Epic, a company that already has deep ties with Disney. Walt Disney acquired a $1.5 billion in Epic Games in 2024, and Disney experiences and IP are featured regularly in Fortnite.

According to tech reporter and insider Alex Heath, Disney could at some point deepen its longstanding working relationship with Epic Games by acquiring the company outright. Speaking with noted entertainment journalist Matthew Belloni on a recent episode of The Town podcast, Heath said some senior Disney executives were intent on acquiring Epic, even though there’s some resistance within the media giant.

“I know for a fact there are senior executives at Disney who want them to buy Epic and they’re just waiting for that moment, and then there are others who think it’s a bad idea,” Heath said. “I think if Epic ever sold, if it ever decided to call it quits on being an independent company, Disney would be the most natural home for it for a lot of reasons,” he added.

The tech journalist said the integration of Disney parks into Fortnite — a potential ‘Fortnite park,’ Disney IP in the Battle Royale title, and Disney’s gaming platform made the two companies a good fit for each other. Heath, however, noted that any acquisition decision would be up to Epic Games founder and CEO Tim Sweeney.

Disney and Epic’s Relationship
Disney and Epic Games have enjoyed close ties, with integrated Disney experiences and IP available in Fortnite. Several popular Disney-owned characters have appeared as playable avatars in the massively popular online shooter.

Back in 2024, Disney announced it was acquiring a $1.5 billion (roughly Rs. 14,054 crore) equity stake in the Fortnite maker as part of a collaboration involving Disney properties like Star Wars, Marvel, and Avatar. The two companies have also committed to creating all-new games and a shared entertainment universe connected to Fortnite. Two years on, fruits of the ambitious collaboration, however, are yet to be seen.

Late last year, Epic Games did add a limited-time mode in Fortnite, featuring a Disneyland Island with theme park experiences and mini games.

Both Epic and Disney, however, seem to be cutting their losses of late. Last week, Epic Games laid off more than 1,000 employees, citing a downturn in Fortnite engagement. Meanwhile, Disney backed out of its $1 billion deal with OpenAI after the AI firm announced it was shutting down its video generation platform, Sora.

Josh D’Amaro Takes Charge as Disney CEO

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Josh D’Amaro has officially taken over as CEO of Disney, stepping into leadership during a period of major transformation for the entertainment giant.

D’Amaro’s success in leading Disney’s highly profitable parks division played a key role in his promotion. The segment remains a critical revenue driver, contributing more than half of the company’s annual profit.

As CEO, he faces multiple challenges, including declining television revenues, increased competition from digital platforms like YouTube and TikTok, and shifting audience behavior. He is also expected to define Disney’s strategy in the artificial intelligence era, where technology is reshaping content creation and distribution.

D’Amaro has emphasized unity across the company and a continued focus on storytelling, while aiming to deliver more personalized experiences for audiences.

Investors are closely watching for a clear long-term growth strategy as Disney navigates industry disruption and evolving market dynamics.

OpenAI to Give Content Owners Control Over Sora AI Videos, Plans Revenue Sharing Model

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OpenAI is rolling out new tools to give content owners greater control over how their intellectual property is used in Sora, its recently launched AI video-generation app, and plans to introduce a revenue-sharing system for creators who opt in.

In a blog post on Friday, CEO Sam Altman said OpenAI will soon provide “more granular control over the generation of characters” within Sora, enabling rights holders such as film and television studios to decide how their characters can appear—or to block them entirely.

The move comes amid intensifying scrutiny of AI-generated content and growing concern across Hollywood and the creative industries about copyright infringement and the unauthorized replication of proprietary characters and likenesses.

Sora, launched this week as a standalone app in the United States and Canada, allows users to generate and share AI-created videos up to 10 seconds long. Its social-media-style interface quickly gained traction, with users producing clips based on both original and copyrighted material.

Altman acknowledged that the app’s rapid popularity—and the sheer volume of video creation—has outpaced expectations, creating a need for clear rules and compensation mechanisms. “We’ll experiment with different approaches,” he wrote, adding that the revenue-sharing model would evolve through “trial and error” as OpenAI tests various systems within Sora before applying them to its broader suite of AI tools.

At least one major studio, Disney, has already opted out of allowing its characters to appear in Sora-generated videos, sources familiar with the matter told Reuters. Other studios are reportedly reviewing whether to participate under OpenAI’s forthcoming licensing framework.

The company’s initiative could mark a turning point in the relationship between AI firms and content owners, shifting from conflict to collaboration—if a viable monetization model can be found.

Backed by Microsoft, OpenAI’s expansion into multimodal AI via Sora places it in direct competition with Meta’s Vibes and Google’s text-to-video tools, as major tech firms race to define the future of synthetic media creation.

Still, the effort to give rights holders control over how their creations are used—and to share revenue from those uses—reflects a broader recognition that AI’s creative power must coexist with creator compensation and consent.