Unreal Engine 6 will become a platform for the metaverse: Epic Games joins forces with Disney

Tim Sweeney revealed ambitious plans to turn Fortnite into a platform for a global metaverse, which will include a joint project with Disney.

In an interview with The Verge, Epic Games CEO Tim Sweeney shared plans to create a new type of virtual universe that will unite Fortnite and other games powered by Unreal Engine, including the upcoming “persistent universe” being developed in collaboration with Disney. This initiative will become part of a global project to build the so-called metaverse.

“We are working to bring the full power of our engine together with the ease of use of Unreal Editor for Fortnite,” Sweeney explained. According to him, this will take several years, and the completion of the process will mark the release of Unreal Engine 6.

However, to realize these ambitious plans, Epic Games had to lay off 16% of its employees last year. “Prior to Unreal Fest last year, we were spending a billion dollars more than we were making,” Sweeney admitted. 

“We announced that we are working with Disney to build their ecosystem, which will fully interoperate with the Fortnite ecosystem,” Sweeney added, highlighting the importance of using Unreal Engine technology for this purpose.

Now Tim Sweeney looks to the future with optimism and plans to continue investing in the development of the metaverse.

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Cover author: Epic Games Cover source: PCGamer