Fortnite maker Epic Games has had a rough start to the year, with Fortnite’s players dropping noticeably, and now over 1,000 jobs being cut as a result. Now, there’s talk of entertainment giant Disney looking to buy the company.
At least that’s what tech reporter Alex Heath from The Verge suggested during his appearance on podcast The Town with Matt Belloni on 25th March (hat tip to IGN). “I know for a fact there are senior executives in Disney who want them to buy Epic and are just waiting for that moment,” Heath said. The reality might be more complex though, as he added there are people near the top “who think it’s a bad idea.”
While this doesn’t instantly mean Epic is looking to sell, or that any kind of deal would materialise, it does raise an interesting possibility. Since the company isn’t publicly traded, “Epic is a founder-controlled company,” Heath reminded listeners. If Disney made a move and wanted to acquire the developer, Fortnite, and its digital storefront, its founder and outspoken CEO Tim Sweeney would be making the final decision. Of course, it’s hard to imagine Epic suddenly calling it quits, but if the downward trend in player retention and spending that was felt in 2025 and into 2026 continues, that might leave room for things to change.
While Sweeney has gone to “bat against” other corporate giants like Apple and Google in the past, Sweeney has praised the “speed” of collaborations between Epic and Disney. As a reminder, the latter made a $1.5 billion investment in the developer in 2024. This supposedly kickstarted work on a Disney-led mode within Fortnite that would be considered a “virtual Disneyland” and a major gaming platform for the company.
Earlier this week, Kevin Mayer, former Disney executive and co-CEO at Candle Media, told CNBC “Epic or some other video game asset would be a great addition to The Walt Disney Company’s asset base” following Josh D’Amaro taking over the CEO role. As pointed out by IGN’s report, above, D’Amaro was among the people “who strongly backed the company’s investment in Fortnite.” All together, it raises genuine questions about the future of one of video games’ most influential companies.
