Ever since Disney invested $1.5 billion in Epic Games to build a “persistent universe,” there’s been very little indication as to what that may eventually look like. But the latest collaboration between the two companies might be the biggest hint yet — and it looks a lot like Disneyland.
On November 6th, Disney is launching a new Fortnite Creative island called Disneyland Game Rush. It’s essentially a minigame collection, with each of the seven games based on a Disney parks attraction, all connected by a hub area that’s reminiscent of the theme park. Disney says it’ll be available for “a limited time.”
I had a chance to check out most of the games ahead of time and it’s all relatively simple stuff. There’s a Haunted Mansion game where you can explore the space to find coins and secret areas, and a Spider-Man-themed shooting gallery where you’re blasting away robot spiders. When you enter the island, the minigames are queued up at random, so one moment you’re shooting stormtroopers, the next you’re trying to climb an icy Matterhorn Mountain.
The games aren’t as elaborate as, say, the various offerings from Lego, which include a survival game and a social hub. But it does feel like a test for the metaverse-like world Disney and Epic want to build together. It may take place inside of Fortnite, but Disneyland Game Rush is also a mostly self-contained space; there’s little in the way of real violence outside of some Star Wars blasters, and the cosmetics you can unlock are only available on the Disney island. (At one point, I unlocked a golden Minnie Mouse hat by finding a secret key.) But it’s still Fortnite. I played through the level wearing a Kaws skin with Jean Michel Basqiat art on my back, and the experience I earned in Game Rush carried over to the rest of the game, just like any other user-made island.
This structure sounds similar to what Epic EVP Saxs Persson suggested to The Verge last year. “Disney wants a persistent place where all things Disney can be there, but they want to be part of an ecosystem we’ve built,” he explained. “We see the power of ecosystems interoperating as being really the magic here. From a player perspective, you want to be able to flow between a Fortnite experience, a Disney experience, or any experience really.”
Disneyland Game Rush feels like an early attempt to see how that idea might work in practice. And it comes as Disney-owned properties continue to flood the battle royale, which is currently in the midst of a Simpsons takeover. It’s easy to see these ideas converging for a Disney-specific space, one that has ties to Fortnite on a technical and social level, but also one that Disney has complete control over. In essence, a virtual theme park.
