Disney's new CEO views Fortnite like another theme park

Disney's future in Fortnite is not going to be cheap

There's still a month before Josh D'Amaro — "Daddy Josh" if you're a Disney parks fan — will take over as the CEO of The Walt Disney Company. Even so, he's already revealing some of his plans for the company and its partnership with Fortnite. For better or worse, it sounds a lot like D'Amaro views it just like he does the theme parks: a place to sell Disney merch and experiences. It’s a digital expansion of the company’s real-world branded ecosystem.

D'Amaro reportedly spoke with a group of bloggers in an off-the-record conversation on Feb. 6. However, a recording of the conversation was believed to be obtained by Puck, which shared a quote from the incoming CEO about Disney's partnership with Epic Games on Fortnite.

"It’s not just gonna be one character," D'Amaro reportedly said. "It could be a new film premiering there, it could be the place that you decide to book your next cruise vacation. You could participate in the Super Bowl in some way there."

There is a lot going on in that statement. At first blush, the standout part of the quote is the idea of premiering films in Fortnite. However, there is some precedent to this. In 2021, the trailer for Christopher Nolan's Tenet debuted in Fortnite. Sitting down in a virtual Fortnite theater for a feature-length film might not be my idea of a good time, but it surely is someone's.

The part that stands out to this Fortnite and Disney fan, though, is D'Amaro adding that "it could be the place that you decide to book your next cruise vacation." While Disney wouldn't be the first cruise company to show off a ship in the game, there's a difference between a limited-time promotional island to showcase a new ship and treating Fortnite as the place to decide where to spend thousands on your next vacation.

Disney first announced its plans to invest in Epic Games to create an "expansive and open games and entertainment universe connected to Fortnite" all the way back in February 2024. While that collection of words doesn't mean much, the accompanying artist's rendering of how Disney viewed its place in the Fortnite ecosystem certainly did.

The image centers on a castle-like hub that links to three islands, the biggest of which is titled World of Disney. For those that don't keep track of this sort of thing (you're so lucky), that name and logo are pulled directly from the company's chain of stores located outside of its theme parks. World of Disney isn't the actual world of Disney. It's a store, which is sort of the world of Disney.So when D'Amaro talks about Fortnite potentially being "the place that you decide to book your next cruise vacation," it's not necessarily surprising — the rendering even shows a port for Disney Cruise Lines on an island. It is, however, further confirmation that Disney's idea of what Fortnite can be is at odds with what Fortnite currently is. While you see a suite of games, from Battle Royale and Fortnite Festival to the tens of thousands of user-created islands, Disney sees a potential new arm of the Disney marketing machine: a new avenue to sell you movies, action figures, theme park tickets, and even cruises.

The company also sees value in Fortnite from a sports perspective. In his comment, D'Amaro noted the possibility that users could "participate in the Super Bowl in some way there." That probably means something as simple as watching the game on a Fortnite island, or having the halftime show streamed within the game. But there's also the ever-growing presence of sports betting that seems inescapable at this point. The Disney-owned ESPN partners with DraftKings for sports betting.

That said, sports gambling on Fortnite anytime soon is unlikely. Recently, the company faced backlash when one of the game's users introduced gambling mechanics that cost actual V-bucks into a Creative island. Epic put a stop to that, reiterating its 2022 promise of "no gambling ever." Shifting from that line of thought to one of potentially allowing sports betting would be no easy feat.

In the end, it's highly unlikely Battle Royale and the suite of other Fortnite games will go away. What's Disneyland without Pirates of the Caribbean? Change is coming, though. And while change isn't new for Fortnite fans, who have seen the game evolve with each new season and chapter, an "expansive and open games and entertainment universe" doesn't sound like a small change. And there's no reason to believe it will be.

During the conversation obtained by Puck, D'Amaro reportedly said, "I tend to think expansively and aggressively about where we can go," regarding the company's future. With that aggression now aimed at Disney's growing presence in Fortnite, that "games and entertainment universe" can't be that far off, can it?

For now, all we can do is wait to see what Disney's next step forward with Fortnite is. Thus far, we've gotten some villainous skins and even a custom island promoting the new season of Percy Jackson and the Olympians. Most notably, we've gotten an entire season's worth of The Simpsons content. Before you know it, we'll be watching Avengers: Doomsday in a virtual movie theater aboard one of Disney's cruise ships on Fortnite's Disney Cruise Line island. Then, and only then, will Fortnite reach its final form.