Could Disney Buy Epic?

With Epic seemingly in a bit of financial trouble, could Disney purchase the maker of Fortnite? Find out the details. Also, a new subscription service for indies, the results of our latest poll and all the news of the week. Let’s go!

An Epic Disney acquisition?

Could Disney buy Epic Games? It seems there might be interest, at the right price. 

In 2024, Disney invested $1.5 billion in Epic to create a new universe connected to Fortnite. Star Wars, The Simpsons and other Disney properties have since appeared in the game. 

Tech journalist and former Verge deputy editor Alex Heath brought up the possibility of Disney acquiring Epic during his appearance on The Town with Matt Belloni podcast. During the interview, Heath said “I know for a fact there are senior executives in Disney who want them to buy Epic and are just waiting for that moment.” Heath also says new Disney CEO Josh D’Amaro “was 500% behind this Epic Games relationship that Disney has where they are developing an open world experience within Fortnite.” Video Games Chronicle has a nice breakdown of Heath’s interview. 

Still, there are those within Disney that are skeptical of an Epic purchase. Last week, Epic announced its plans to lay off over 1,000 employees. With Fortnite numbers down and the changing landscape of video games in general, they feel it might not be the best move.

A new service for indie games

A new subscription-based platform that focuses on independent games is slated to launch in April. 

Indie Pass calls itself the “world's only subscription-based platform for indie games.” Launching April 13, the company behind Indie Pass (indie.io) hopes the platform makes smaller games more discoverable. For $7 per month, subscribers get unlimited access to a library of over 70 games at launch. Developers who make their games available on Indie Pass are paid by the amount of time users spend in their game.

Well this is a neat idea in theory, reaction from the web is mixed. PC Gamer collected some of the biggest worries about the service. They include:

• Compensation based on time played discourages games that aren't optimized to keep players in an endless loop
• Indie games are already relatively cheap, so why not support developers with a direct purchase?
• It's another way to not own the games we play
• Yet another launcher

Will you give Indie Pass a try? Let us know in the comments or on Bluesky.

DLSS 5: Fantastic or Freaky?

A couple weeks ago, Nvidia announced changes to their AI-assisted technology, DLSS 5. The technology was created to help games run better on slower computers, but the new version specifically changes the art of the game. 

We asked you, our readers, what you thought of the new technology. Was it cool and something you looked forward to, or something you planned to avoid? 100% of those who voted said DLSS 5 looks like AI slop. Thanks to those who participated, and look for more polls in the future.

Side Quests (more stories worth reading)

🤣 Is April Fool’s Day your thing? Check out every video game prank from last week. 

🧑🏼‍⚖️ The U.S. Patent Office revoked Nintendo’s patent on summoning characters in a game to make them battle.

🕰️ The Last of Us Online was cancelled 24 hours before it was going to be announced. 

🥽 Virtual reality game platform Rec Room is shutting down June 1 after failing to become “sustainably profitable.”

🚓 Never-before seen details from Grand Theft Auto 4 leaked online after an abandoned Xbox 360 dev kit was purchased at a flea market. 

🌐 After learning they would lose access to its multiplayer servers at the end of April, Stormgate is rushing to patch in an offline mode.

🤼‍♂️ Following significant online criticism due to changes to their Ringside Pass, WWE 2K26 is fundamentally changing how it works. 

🖥️ The latest Steam Hardware Survey is out, and over 5% of users now play games on Linux. 

🤖 Warframe’s community director says “nothing in our games will be AI-generated, ever.”

😢 The studio behind the 2025 game Wanderstop shut down last week. 

📺 An Emmy-winning animation studio bought the rights to multiple Roblox titles and has started development on feature-length movies and television shows.

👎🏾 MechWarrior developer Piranha Games laid off 30% of its staff, while Eidos-Montréal announced mass layoffs for the third year in a row.

❎ Microsoft says its new Xbox CEO killed their This is an Xbox campaign because “it didn’t feel like Xbox.”

🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 A Pokémon Pokopia-themed “immersive space” is now open in London until Sept. 30.

🥤 To celebrate the 25th anniversary of Xbox, Fanta is adding a new flavor and cans featuring game characters.

New Releases this week: 

Check out our article on 11 new games to play in April. 

4/8: Pokémon Champions (Switch)
4/8: Samson: A Tyndalston Story (PC)
4/8: The Occultist (PlayStation, Xbox and PC)
4/9: Beyond Words (PlayStation, Xbox, Switch and PC)

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