Disney and Epic Games are still working on their big ole metaverse together, but one thing you can’t expect from it is Mickey Mouse running around with a gun.
Earlier this year, the house of mouse made a whopping $1.5 billion investment into Epic to create a “persistent universe” tied to Fortnite, though unsurprisingly we’re yet to see the fruits of that labour. There have been plenty of Disney-owned IPs that have appeared in the battle royale, like numerous Star Wars characters and most recently characters from Incredibles, but this massive metaverse project will still be quite a while away. The Verge recently spoke with Epic Games EVP Saxs Persson about this upcoming project, with the most interesting point shared being about the limits of working with certain IP in a technically quite violent game like Fortnite.
Speaking about skins in Fortnite, Persson explained, “Not every outfit will be able to do everything. A [Lego] minifig doesn’t hold a gun. Brands should be able to enforce the brand guidelines to the degree that they’re comfortable with that brand being associated with particular ratings.” As The Verge notes, that means you shouldn’t necessarily expect to be able to use a hypothetical Mickey Mouse skin in the battle royale version of Fortnite, as it wouldn’t exactly be a good look for that fickle thing called The Brand to have Mickey holding a gun of any kind, cartoonish or not.
Persson continues to explain, “Some IPs are not teen IPs or mature IPs. They are E for everyone IPs.” Both Incredibles films are rated PG, which can allow guns in certain contexts, so I guess that’s above board – and there’s been plenty of Marvel skins, all of which can hold guns, but Marvel is more targeted at teens and up anyway.
The interview rounds off with Persson expressing excitement, saying that “It’s one of those partnerships that you can only wish for. This is all of Disney, and this is all-in from both companies to make what every Disney fan has ever wanted.” Well, I couldn’t quite agree with that, as there’s almost definitely someone that wants to walk around as Mickey Mouse shooting thirteen year olds yelling way too many slurs at you than you’re comfortable with, but hey, you can’t please everyone!
