Business Strategy

The context behind Disney’s investment into Epic Games

Cover image for The context behind Disney’s investment into Epic Games
Karol Severin
investment
Epic Games
Disney
Disney announced it is investing $1.5 billion into Epic Games. The same announcement talks about a creation of an “ expansive and open games and entertainment universe connected to Fortnite ”. This move makes sense for Disney on several levels and is perhaps one of the most impactful games-related moves for Disney’s overall cultural relevance, engagement, monetisation capabilities, and profitability.
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Was 2024 the year of peak ad revenues for Paramount and the Super Bowl?

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Tim Mulligan
Sports
Super Bowl
NFL
Sunday saw the Super Bowl LVIII broadcast on CBS, Paramount+, and Nickelodeon, providing a bumper advertising windfall estimated at between $650-$700 million for parent company Paramount. The media majors’ entire business model is under intense scrutiny from investors made nervous by its losses (-$855 million for 2023 as of Q3 2023), and the overall share price being down 40% year-to-date.
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PLAY – music’s next chapter

Cover image for PLAY – music’s next chapter
Mark Mulligan
Music
Business Strategy
The old maxim that change is the only constant feels tailor made for the 21stcentury music business. No sooner does the industry get its head around one paradigm shift then another one comes along. First piracy, then downloads, then streaming, then the rise of the independent artist and now…well, just what is ‘now’? AI may be the word on everyone’s lips, but as transformational as it will be, it is going to be an enabler of a wider shift, one that will see a forking from today’s LISTEN-focused ecosystem, resulting in the emergence of a new, parallel PLAY-focused one.
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For years, we said to take games efforts of these companies seriously – now they are serious players

Cover image for For years, we said to take games efforts of these companies seriously – now they are serious players
Karol Severin
Netflix
Apple Arcade
Games
MIDiA has always been bullish about traditionally non-gaming tech companies’ opportunity in games. The first time we wrote about Netflix’s opportunity in games was in 2017. We also wrote about the significance of Apple Arcade early on ( here , here , and reiterated reasons for the games industry to take it seriously again, here ).
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