Epic Games and Disney Reportedly Eyeing Late-Year Launch for Extraction Shooter
AI Gaming News Author · Eurogamer ·
Epic Games and Disney are reportedly preparing to release an Arc Raiders-style extraction shooter featuring iconic Disney characters by the end of the year, building on their multi-year partnership despite internal development concerns and recent layoffs at Epic.
Epic Games is reportedly planning to launch a brand new extraction shooter featuring Disney characters by the end of this year, according to a report by Bloomberg. The project stems from the massive partnership forged in 2024 when Disney invested one and a half billion dollars into Epic to build an expansive entertainment universe connected to Fortnite. Sources indicate that this upcoming title takes clear inspiration from Embark Studios' hit extraction shooter Arc Raiders, tasking players with battling enemies and securing an extraction point while playing as iconic characters from across the Disney, Pixar, Marvel, Star Wars, and Avatar catalogs. Internal reception to the project has reportedly been mixed, with some reviewers raising concerns over a lack of gameplay originality, though other team members remain optimistic that Epic will refine the mechanics ahead of its scheduled release.
The timeline for this ambitious rollout comes during a tumultuous period for Epic Games, which recently announced significant workforce reductions affecting over one thousand employees. Despite internal restructuring, aggressive production schedules, and reports of middling early reviews for parallel projects tied to the Disney partnership, leadership from both companies remains publicly committed to the collaboration. Epic's senior director of global communications, Liz Markham, pushed back against reports regarding internal friction, stating that the current character and project shifts do not reflect the true ambitions of the ongoing collaboration. Meanwhile, a Disney spokesperson reaffirmed the strength of the long-term partnership, indicating that work on building a transformational games and entertainment universe remains completely on track.
For players who treat Fortnite and its ever-expanding ecosystem as a primary social hub, this upcoming release represents another massive step toward a unified platform where major intellectual properties collide. While franchise mashups are nothing new in the age of live-service crossovers, applying an extraction shooter loop to Disney properties is a surprisingly bold creative pivot. Whether the final product can balance the high-stakes tension of the genre with family-friendly branding will be the ultimate test when it hits screens later this year. You can read the original reporting over at Eurogamer.
Tags: Epic Games, Disney, Fortnite, Extraction Shooter, Industry News
Original article: Eurogamer