Since the recently announced layoffs at Epic Games there has been one persistent rumour – Disney wants to buy Epic Games. It is persistent enough that we decided to look into it further in this video. Right up front I will state the following, this is not news, it is only a rumour mostly formed around 2nd party mentions of discussions of executives at Disney. Moreso, Epic Games is a private company with founder and CEO Tim Sweeney still holding a controlling stake meaning if Tim does not want to sell Epic Games, Disney cannot buy it. It is however worth discussing as there are a disturbingly high number of reasons why Disney might want to buy Epic Games.
The following is mostly a reference to the various articles cited in that video. Speaking for cited in that video, if you are a Unity developer you really should check out this new Humble Bundle.
Rumours About Disney Buying Epic Games
Disney Reportedly Keen on Buying Fortnite Developer Epic Games, But Waiting for Right Moment — IGN
Why Disney Might Want To Buy Epic Games
They Already Own a 9% Stake in the Company
They Have a New CEO – Josh D’Amaro
New CEOs Often Make a Big Splash – Bob Iger Buying Pixar 3 Months Into His Regime
Disney Use Unreal Engine to Power Their Amusement Rides Already
Disney Use Unreal Engine for Film Production – Mandalorian
Disney X Fortnite Already Exists and is Growing (Just Launched Star Wars Fortnite)
The Business Side of the Deal
Disney Is Not Afraid to Make Big Purchases
Tencent Ownership in Epic Games
Tencent Has No Epic Games Board Control Anymore
Sony and KIRKBI (LEGO) Invest in Epic Games in 2022
Epic Games Investments and Estimated Valuation
The Bad
Disney Had a Gaming Division Before… They Shut it Down and Lost Massive Amounts of Money
Disney Recently Invest in OpenAI and Sora Specifically
Why Disney Still Needs Epic Games – La Times
You can learn more about the rumours around Disney wanting to acquire Epic Games, what it would take, why it would probably be bad for game develoeprs if it happened and much more in the video below.
