“I know for a fact there are senior executives in Disney who want them to buy Epic, and are just waiting for that moment,” said Heath. “And then there’s others who think it’s a bad idea. So, I think if Epic ever sold, if it ever decided to call it quits on being an independent company, Disney would be the most natural home for it for a lot of reasons, for the park integration. Can you imagine a Fortnite park?”

Heath went on to discuss Epic Games’ recent legal battles against major tech industry companies like Apple and Google, and how this might also play a pivotal role in keeping Disney from buying the company outright, at least for now. In the long term, however, both companies might want to team up to a greater degree to take on the ever-popular Roblox.

“And, I can see that, but at the same time you have to understand Epic is a founder-controlled company, so Tim Sweeney has full voting stock control and can make unilateral decisions, and it’s really up to him. And he is, as we saw, he was the guy who went to battle against the app stores, against Apple and Google, to open those up. And it’s almost an illogical crusade when you’re running a company like Epic to do something like that.”

“But that kind of thinking is something that’s going to keep Disney a little bit at arm’s length.”

Belloni brings up the fact that the recent financial hardships faced by Epic Games, which led to the company laying off over 1,000 of its employees, could also play a role in Disney’s potential acquisition plans. “If this is the beginning of a long, slow decline for Fortnite, which I’m not sure it is, it’s not great if Disney’s putting all their chips into a declining business.”

“Gaming in general is having a hard time,” responded Heath. “But if you look at Roblox‘s growth, which is where Epic has been trying to take Fortnite into more of an open-world creator-first ecosystem where creators can build businesses, building on top of Fortnite, Roblox is just killing it with that. And I think these experiences are probably still the future of not only gaming, but social media for young people, right? They’re hanging out in these worlds. So Fortnite‘s not dead.”

Belloni responded by saying that his 10-year-old “would be stoked if Tony Stark showed up and Yoda and a bunch of Jedi, and they could play with those.”

“It’s the best combination to potentially actually challenge Roblox‘s dominance here,” noted Heath. “You can call it gaming, but it’s really entertainment, and it’s also social media. I mean Disney’s on the cap table. They’re supposed to be doing this integration.”

It is worth noting that, for now, neither Epic Games nor Disney have made any announcements or statements that indicate that there might be discussions about an acquisition in the works. As Heath and Belloni noted, however, it could potentially be a beneficial partnership, especially in the wake of Disney’s deal with OpenAI falling through in light of the latter bringing an end to its video generation technology Sora.

Throughout this, he discovered mentions of Project Juliet, which is a “full, modern remake of Knights of the Old Republic 2” that “is/was in development” as of March 2025. Reilly described it as offering “modern art, modern gameplay, you know, keep the story and the characters and the general—the general content of KOTOR 2, but remake it for modern hardware and modern machines with updated graphics and all those kinds of things.”

The project was discussed with Aspyr, but its current status is unknown. In a follow-up post on Bluesky, Totilo said this remake would also include Obsidian’s cut content, aka the “Restored Content DLC.” Whether it’s undergone any changes remains to be seen. With how up in the air Knights of the Old Republic – Remake is, it’s surprising that the sequel is getting a remake at all.

Perhaps the former is further along than we initially imagined and could be gearing up for a release next year. It was first announced for PS5 and PC back in 2021, and concept art of Kashykkk and early levels has since leaked. Stay tuned for further updates from The Game Awards on December 11th.

While he did express interest in the idea, he also noted that he would want to come up with his own take on the Alien franchise, complete with his own ideas of what a Xenomorph would be. He has even gone as far as messing around with generative AI tool Midjourney to try and create different kinds of Xenomorphs. Ultimately, however, he would be happier with working on one of his own projects rather than a licensed IP.

“Let’s say I took on a licence,” he said. “Which I really don’t want to do; I want to make my own. Let’s say somebody came to me and said, ‘We’re going to give you the Alien licence.’ Immediately I could show you, I don’t know, maybe 100 different aliens I’ve made in Midjourney over the last two years, just because I like it. So yeah, I would love to make an Alien game.”

When it comes ideas about potential discussions with Alien IP owner 20th Century Fox – itself owned by Disney – Schofield noted that he would want complete creative control over the project, referring to it as “not even negotiable.”

“I have to own the creative,” he said. “That’s not even negotiable. Because I won’t make a great game unless it’s mine and I’m so ingrained in it—then I will give you 130%.”

Earlier this year, Schofield had spoken about facing difficulties with getting new projects off the ground since his departure from Striking Distance Studios. Among the things he was working on at the time, he also wrote about a project alongside his daughter.

“Over the past eight months, I’ve been quietly working with my daughter, Nicole, on a new game idea,” wrote Schofield. “She came to me with it, and I immediately loved the idea. Something I hadn’t seen before. We’ve been calling it a new sub-genre of horror—not just horror, but something more.”

Difficulties with getting the project going largely came down to budgetary concerns, however. While he had decided on a budget of $17 million for the project at the time, investors weren’t biting, with some asking him to “get it to $10 million”, and then later going even lower, down to $2 to $5 million.

“So last month, we decided to walk away. Some ideas are better left untouched than done cheap,” he continued. “We had a team of six here in the States and a full crew in the UK. Now, everyone’s looking for work. They’re all talented folks—if you’re hiring, let me know.”

In his post, Schofield noted that, with the current state of the gaming industry and the difficulties with getting funding, he might be done with his career as a game director.

“I’m still around, making art, writing stories and ideas and still cheering the industry on,” he wrote. “But maybe I’ve directed my last game. Who knows? If so thank you playing my games.”

As part of the agreement, SAG-AFTRA members are seeing a general rise in compensation, starting at a rate of 15.17 percent on ratification of the deal, and then going up by an additional 3 percent each year starting from November 2025, until November 2027. The agreement also improves the maximum amount of overtime rate for performers, basing it on double scale.

One of the bigger aspects of the strike was the fact that SAG-AFTRA members wanted to have their jobs protected in an industry that has been seeing the rising use of AI for various creative aspects of development. The new agreement brings in “safety guardrails and gains” around the use of AI, including the requirement for companies to get consent from perfromers, as well as offer disclosure when it comes to these companies wanting to create AI-based digital replicas of the performers.

“I commend the strong leadership of Interactive Media Agreement Negotiating Chair Sarah Elmaleh, who remained steadfast through three years of hard bargaining while facing many challenging headwinds during a challenging negotiation cycle,” said SAG-AFTRA president Fran Descher in the press release. “This deal achieves important progress around AI protections, and progress is the name of the game! My sincere respect goes out to the entire video game performer community and their allies for their solidarity during the strike which provided the necessary leverage to secure this deal’s many essential gains.”

“We are pleased that SAG-AFTRA members have ratified a new Interactive Media Agreement, which delivers historic wage increases, industry-leading AI protections, and enhanced health and safety measures for performers,” said a spokesperson for the video game producers that signed the new agreement. “We look forward to building on our industry’s decades-long partnership with the union and continuing to create groundbreaking entertainment experiences for billions of players worldwide.”

For context, the strike had gone on for 11 months. In a statement, the SAG-AFTRA national executive director and chief negotiator, Duncan Crabtree-Ireland, had also thanked the union members as well as allies who had taken part in the strike and helped raise support.

While the strike by SAG-AFTRA was an important one when it came to the union protecting its members against emerging technologies like AI, the strike has also had an adverse affect on the development of games. Hideo Kojima, for instance, had confirmed back in January that the development of both Physint and OD faced setbacks because of the strike, with casting for the former being outright suspended.

Interestingly, of the games in development affected by the strike, Rockstar’s Grand Theft Auto 6 was made “exempt” from it. A spokesperson for the union confirmed this back in July 2024.

As part of the new multiplatform release, Disney Illusion Island Starring Mickey and Friends is also getting new content in the form of Scrooge offering the playable characters a new special ability called Dig! This ability can then be turned in for permanent upgrades for a new game mode dubbed Cave Adventuring Scavenger Hunt (C.A.S.H.). This new content will also be released on Nintendo Switch.

Getting ready for its release on PC, PS5 and Xbox Series X/S, a new trailer for Disney Illusion Island Starring Mickey and Friends has been released. Check it out below. The trailer gives us quick glimpses at each of the four playable characters, before giving us a wider look at its gorgeous art style and levels and character designs.

As the trailer indicates, along with the new content, Disney Illusion Island‘s multiplatform release will also bring with it sharper visuals thanks to the higher resolution output that is possible on PC, PS5 and Xbox Series X/S.

The multi-platform release was first hinted at earlier this week when PSDeals was able to scrape through PlayStation Store’s backend for details about the release. The game will include all of the gameplay features from the original Nintendo Switch release, including offline co-op multiplayer for between 2 and 4 players, along with the ability for players to help each other by using unique abilities.

Disney Illusion Island was originally announced back in September 2022. It was eventually released on the Nintendo Switch, even getting a trailer leading up to its July 2023 release date. The trailer gave us a glimpse at some of the areas that players would be exploring in the game, as well as some of the special abilities of each of the four playable characters.

In Disney Illusion Island, players take on the role of Mickey, Minnie, Goofy or Donald as they set forth to explore the titular island. The game has been structured like other metroidvania titles, complete with players needing to explore every nook and cranny in order to find upgrades and shortcuts that will help them progress further through its story.

Back when it came out, the title got generally positive reviews. Its Metacritic aggregate sits at around 73, and in our own review for the game, we gave it a score of 8 out of 10. While we praised the game for great visuals and animations, as well as the general charm it exudes thanks to its witty writing, we did find some of its gameplay mechanics a on the shallower end, and the lack of combat offering up some awkward boss fights here and there.

According to the store description as caught by PSDeals, Disney Illusion Island Starring Mickey and Friends will include all of the features of its original Switch release in the PS5 version. This includes support for offline multiplayer for between 2 and 4 players. Interestingly the PS5 release also has the “Starring Mickey and Friends” suffix in the title when compared to the original release. This might indicate additional content coming to the title.

While no release date has been given for the title, a PS Store listing existing in Sony’s servers indicates that announcement is likely not too far away.

Originally announced back in September 2022, Disney Illusion Island was released on the Nintendo Switch in July 2023. The title got a trailer leading up to its initial release, showcasing the various challenges that players will have to take on as they explore the eponymous Illusion Island.

The title also includes some features more commonly seen in metroidvania titles, with players having the ability to swim, jump and wall-jump, among other things, depending on the character they choose to play as. The base game featured Mickey, Minnie, Donald, and Goofy as its primary protagonists. Each character also has co-op abilities where multiple players can support each other in their exploration.

On release, Disney Illusion Island got generally positive reviews, with a Metacritic aggregate score of 73. In our own review of the title, we praised it quite a bit for its great visuals and animations, solid level design, and its witty writing. Our only complaints revolved around a lack of combat, uneven boss fights, and the title not being as complex as one would want from a metroidvania game. Ultimately we gave Disney Illusion Island a score of 8 out of 10, praising its universal appeal and accessibility.

The setting should be familiar to those who played last year’s TRON: Identity, though its gameplay focuses more on isometric combat. The Identity Disc is your weapon, which can be parried and ricocheted off enemies. However, you also fight on Light Cycles and unlock new abilities with Data Shards.

Based on the press release, TRON: Catalyst seems to employ rogue-lite elements with “glitches” causing time loops in the system. Alternate routes and hidden locations open up as you navigate the Arq Grid. If it’s anything like Hades, expect an evolving narrative based on the success of different runs.

TRON: Catalyst is out in 2025. Stay tuned for more details on its gameplay in the meantime.

That’s as per Felipe Lima, editor-in-chief at Brazilian outlet Universo Nintendo, who recently claimed on Twitter that new information on Kingdom Hearts 4 will be shared at Disney’s annual D23 expo later this year. Prominent leaker Midori says she believes the same, but has been unable to concretely verify that information thus far.

D23 is set for August 9-11 in Anaheim, so if this information is indeed accurate, it’ll only be a couple of months until Square Enix and Disney finally share new details on Kingdom Hearts 4. A leak earlier in the year claimed that the game was targeting a 2025 release, so perhaps we could hear more about that as well.

I believe that we’ll see KH4 news in D23 later this year

— ‘Necro’ Felipe #UnivNintendo (@necrolipe) June 4, 2024

I think so too.
But I don’t have confirmed information right now.

— みどり (@MbKKssTBhz5) June 4, 2024

Now, as reported by Variety, as part of its continued efforts to expand its gaming presence, Disney Games is expanding its leadership team, which involves promotions as well as several new hires, with a number of industry veterans joining the company.

For starter, Disney Games lead Sean Shoptaw has been promoted to executive vice president, while Jay Ong, who has been head of Marvel Games for close to a decade, has been appointed the new lead of the global licensing business. Prior to his role at Marvel, he also had stints at Blizzard Entertainment, EA, and Xbox. Ong, in turn, is being replaced as Marvel Games head by Haluk Mentes, previously the head of portfolio strategy and business development.

Additionally, Blizzard Entertainment’s former chief development officer Ray Gresko is joining as VP of product and development, and will be working closely with Epic Games as part of the companies’ ongoing collaboration. At Blizzard, Gresko co-led the development of Overwatch and Diablo 3, and also played a crucial role in the early development of Hearthstone. He joins former Ubisoft Massive technical lead Bjorn Tornqvist, who joined Disney Games as VP of games technology last Fall. Ong, Gresko, and Tornqvist will all report directly to Shoptaw.

“Under the leadership of Sean and Jay, Disney’s games business is perfectly positioned to deliver world-class storytelling in this medium,” says Disney Consumer Products president Tasia Filippatos. “We’re grateful to every member of the Disney Games team who has contributed to our success, and who will help shape the future of this industry through genre-defining entertainment.”

Disney has a number of major upcoming licensed titles in the pipeline, including the likes of Star Wars Outlaws, Marvel’s Wolverine, Marvel 1943: Rise of Hydra, Indiana Jones and the Great Circle, and more.

As part of the partnership, Epic Games and Disney will be creating a new persistent universe based on various Disney properties ranging across its various divisions, including Pixar, Marvel, and Star Wars. As part of the new project, players will be able to make their own experiences with Disney properties, all of which will be powered by Unreal Engine.

“Our exciting new relationship with Epic Games will bring together Disney’s beloved brands and franchises with the hugely popular Fortnite in a transformational new games and entertainment universe,” said Disney CEO Robert Iger. “This marks Disney’s biggest entry ever into the world of games and offers significant opportunities for growth and expansion. We can’t wait for fans to experience the Disney stories and worlds they love in groundbreaking new ways.”

“Disney was one of the first companies to believe in the potential of bringing their worlds together with ours in Fortnite, and they use Unreal Engine across their portfolio,” said Epic Games CEO and founder Tim Sweeney. “Now we’re collaborating on something entirely new to build a persistent, open and interoperable ecosystem that will bring together the Disney and Fortnite communities.”

“This will enable us to bring together our incredible collection of stories and experiences from across the company for a broad audience in ways we have only dreamed of before,” said Disney Experiences chairman Josh D’Amaro. “Epic Games’ industry-leading technology and Fortnite’s open ecosystem will help us reach consumers where they are so they can engage with Disney in the ways that are most relevant to them.”

Aside from the new persistent world, neither Disney nor Epic Games have released any details about further collaborations between the two companies. However, it wouldn’t be out of the question to start seeing Disney characters and environments making their way into the main battle royale game mode of Fortnite.

Fortnite itself has been no stranger to collaborations with different companies and properties, ranging from Japanese properties like Dragon Ball and Naruto, to Western properties like John Wick.