Epic bets on Disney shooter

Epic Games is reportedly centering its Disney partnership on a Disney-character extraction shooter, with Bloomberg’s reporting pointing to a November 2026 target. (rockpapershotgun.com) Rock Paper Shotgun, citing Bloomberg, said four employees described the project as being in the style of Embark Studios’ Arc Raiders, a multiplayer format where players enter a map, collect loot, survive fights, and reach an extraction point. Game Rant said Epic also disputed the idea that the leaked details capture the full scope of the Disney plans. (rockpapershotgun.com) (gamerant.com) The report lands less than three weeks after Epic announced another round of cuts on March 24, 2026, saying it was laying off more than 1,000 employees and finding more than $500 million in cost savings. Chief executive Tim Sweeney said Fortnite engagement had been falling since 2025 and the company had been spending more than it was making. (epicgames.com) Epic had already cut about 16 percent of its staff in September 2023, or roughly 830 employees, while divesting Bandcamp and spinning off most of SuperAwesome. Sweeney said then that Epic had been “spending way more money than we earn” while investing in Fortnite and other long-term bets. (epicgames.com) Disney’s side of the partnership is large enough to matter on its own. On February 7, 2024, Disney said it would invest $1.5 billion for an equity stake in Epic as part of a multiyear plan to build an “open, persistent and social universe” connected to Fortnite. (thewaltdisneycompany.com) Epic used similar language in its own announcement, saying the Disney project would interoperate with Fortnite and its more than 100 million active players and creators. That framed the deal as more than a single licensed game from the start. (epicgames.com) Disney chief executive Bob Iger later described the Epic deal as part of Disney’s push deeper into games, telling investors in March 2024 that the company wanted to use its characters and worlds in a larger digital ecosystem. Disney has continued to describe the Epic investment as a growth project in corporate materials since then. (thewaltdisneycompany.com 1) (thewaltdisneycompany.com 2) What is still missing is an official public reveal of the first Disney-Epic game, a confirmed release date, or a named platform list. For now, the clearest picture comes from the Bloomberg account relayed by Rock Paper Shotgun and Game Rant, and from Epic’s own statements that the Disney collaboration remains a major long-term priority. (rockpapershotgun.com) (gamerant.com) (epicgames.com)