One year ago, Disney invested $1.5 billion into Epic Games to create a massive Disney x Fortnite experience that has yet to come to fruition. But at South by Southwest, one of Disney’s Imagineers teased the way that this online experience may be able to play off of a guest’s trip to a Disney theme park.
During the Disney parks panel at SXSW, Walt Disney Imagineering’s Asa Kalama–who oversees interactive experiences at Disney theme parks–used a ride in Star Wars Galaxy’s Edge as an example of how the real-life trip at the theme park can affect the Disney x Fortnite game for visitors.
“Imagine… what if you could go to the park and have an experience in Smuggler’s Run [and] go on this amazing mission, but then have that affect or connect your gameplay at home,” said Kalama.
Smuggler’s Run is a ride that places six people in control of the Millennium Falcon, and guests are graded on how well they performed, and if they escape with the cargo. A successful mission is supposed to bolster the reputation of the guests who pulled it off. Carrying that reputation over from the park to the game may be the interaction that Kalama is suggesting. Or perhaps achieving that feat can earn XP or a special item.
Disney and Epic Games have yet to fully define what their collaboration will be, although most theories revolve around it being a metaverse experience that unites several of Disney’s major brands including Pixar, Marvel, Star Wars, Avatar, and ESPN. The project recently reached a milestone with the creation of a stable build, but fans have yet to see it for themselves.
Last October, Disney’s Josh D’Amaro described the Disney x Fortnite experience as “a place where you can play games, a place where you can be social, a place where users can generate their own content.” He also indicated that the company went forward with its massive investment in Epic Games because it had “to adapt, or we are going to be left behind.”