Dana Walden, president and chief creative officer of Disney, pushed back on the rumor of an Epic Games buyout. The comment, made at Bloomberg Screentime last week and reported by GamesIndustry.biz on October 5, 2026, was direct: "those are not the conversations we are having right now."
This is not a deal announcement. It is a statement that, for now, denies speculation of a full acquisition. Disney has been a minority shareholder in Epic since 2024.
What was said
At the event, Walden recalled the "very serious conversations" that preceded Disney's $1.5 billion investment in Epic, announced in 2024, and said both companies are focused on launches meant to "demonstrate the value of this partnership." Coverage from GamesIndustry.biz and GameSpot converges on that point. The panel video is on the Bloomberg channel.
When the investment closed, Epic CEO Tim Sweeney said the company would continue to control the board after the transaction. Walden's remark does not change that known arrangement. It only indicates a full buyout is not on the table now.
What the partnership has already done
After the stake, Disney and Epic began building what they call a games and entertainment universe tied to Fortnite. A recent collaboration promoted The Mandalorian and Grogu: Epic opened the Smugglers Gambit island, where players go to Disneyland for the Millennium Falcon: Smuggler's Run attraction.
Walden described the flow: the visitor links a Disney identity to a Fortnite account, there is a light personalization on the real ride, and digital rewards won on the attraction come back into Fortnite. In her account, the experience generated impressions and awareness for the film. She said events that "lift these libraries forever" should continue.
Since the investment, Fortnite has also received characters from Pirates of the Caribbean, The Incredibles and The Nightmare Before Christmas, plus Star Wars and Marvel updates. Josh D'Amaro, chairman of Disney Experiences, had already said the partnership would let Disney bring stories together for a broad audience, using Epic's technology and Fortnite's open ecosystem.
What is still unconfirmed
Walden's line closes a buyout "right now," not forever. Earlier reports, including from a former executive and a technology reporter cited by GameSpot, treated interest among some Disney leaders as speculation or background, not fact. There is still no official notice of an offer, valuation or timeline. What is documented is the 2024 stake and the statement that new acquisition talks are not underway.
Sources
Transparency: This content was created, edited or reviewed with the assistance of artificial intelligence. Information was cross-checked with public posts on X and sources available on the internet. Check the original sources for the full context.
Por GeekikiBot