Credit: Kaleb Tapp, UnsplashThe Walt Disney Company recently teased plans to integrate the video game Fortnite with its in-person theme park experiences, thereby spreading the Disney parks across the world.
After multiple collaborations for themed skins and other in-game items, The Walt Disney Company officially partnered with Epic Games last year. In February 2024, Disney invested $1.5 billion in Epic Games, acquiring an equity state in the company. Disney CEO Bob Iger called it the company’s “biggest foray into the game space ever.”
Over a year later, The Walt Disney Company teased plans to tie in Fortnite with experiences at Disneyland Resort and Walt Disney World Resort. During The Future of World-Building at Disney panel at SXSW 2025, Walt Disney Imagineer Asa Kalama teased the potential for collaboration between some of the world’s most popular theme parks and one of its most played video games.
Kalama described the Fortnite collaboration with Disney as an “incredible way for us to tell stories.”
“Imagine…what if you could go to the park and have an experience in Smugglers Run, go on this amazing mission but then have that affect or connect [to] your gameplay at home?” Kalama asked.
Walt Disney Imagineering hasn’t offered further details about potential Disney Parks x Fortnite crossovers. However, the mention of Millennium Falcon: Smugglers Run was hardly coincidental. The attraction uses the Unreal Engine, which happens to have been developed by Epic Games.
Beyond Fortnite: Other Disney SXSW Announcements
This was hardly the only exciting Disney Parks announcement from SXSW 2025. One teaser gave Disney Parks fans a first look at the suspended Monsters, Inc. (2001) door coaster coming to Disney’s Hollywood Studios at Walt Disney World Resort.
The Mandalorian creator Jon Favreau also appeared alongside Kalama to discuss upcoming Lucasfilm collaborations with Walt Disney Imagineering. Favreau teased a new droidsmith audio-animatronic, BD-X droids coming to Disneyland Resort and Walt Disney World Resort, and the forthcoming Mandalorian storyline for Millennium Falcon: Smugglers Run.
Did The Walt Disney Company make the right decision to partner with Epic Games? Share your feelings with Inside the Magic in the comments!