Mickey Mouse with a Gun? Epic's Next Game Is Wild

Picture Mickey Mouse sprinting to an extraction point with a rifle. That is, apparently, a real game Epic Games is planning to ship this year.

Bloomberg reports (paywalled, but covered extensively by multiple outlets) that Epic is developing a shooting game modelled on Arc Raiders, except players control Disney characters battling enemies until they reach an extraction point. Four sources told Bloomberg the game is targeting a November release. Internal reviewers have already flagged that the mechanics aren't very original, though some staff are reportedly optimistic Epic will sort things out before launch.

The context here matters a lot. Epic laid off over 1,000 employees last month, citing Fortnite's declining engagement and a situation where the company was "spending significantly more than we're making." Ballistic, Rocket Racing, and Festival Battle Stage were all shut down as part of the same restructuring. The Disney deal, in which The Walt Disney Company acquired a $1.5 billion stake in Epic in 2024, is now carrying serious weight as a path forward. This extraction shooter is the first of at least three games expected from that partnership.

The other two aren't in great shape either, according to Bloomberg's sources. Early versions of the second game received "middling" internal reviews, and the team working on the third was reportedly pulled off it to accelerate the first two after Disney expressed disappointment over Epic's release timeline. Epic's senior director of global communications, Liz Markham, pushed back on the reporting, telling Bloomberg it is "not reflective of the ambitions of the Disney collaboration. We are building a new games and entertainment universe of Disney experiences." A Disney spokesperson echoed that, saying the collaboration "continues to have strong momentum."

Neither statement actually denies the extraction shooter exists.

The Problem With Shipping a Game Your Own Staff Doesn't Believe In

This is the part that should give players pause. Epic has a documented pattern, per eight current and former employees speaking to Bloomberg, of releasing products before staff feel they're ready. The mobile store underperformed. User-generated game modes didn't connect. And now the studio is aiming to launch a new IP in a crowded genre, with a November window, while its workforce is still recovering from the largest round of layoffs in the company's history.

The extraction shooter market is already stacked. Arc Raiders launched to enthusiasm, Escape from Tarkov still holds its hardcore audience, and Marathon is out there trying to carve its own space. Dropping into that genre with Disney IP attached is a swing, but "some employees are optimistic" is not the internal temperature you want heading into a holiday launch window.

I'm not writing this off because it sounds absurd. Fortnite sounded absurd before it became a cultural phenomenon, and Epic has earned some benefit of the doubt on high-concept ideas. But Fortnite launched in a moment where Epic had momentum and resources. This is launching after mass layoffs, with a team that's been reshuffled, into a genre where originality is already being questioned internally. The IP alone won't carry it.

Markham's statement did include one line worth taking seriously: "Epic's timelines are aggressive and always have been. We've heavily moved developers onto projects with releases approaching, while smaller prototyping teams are working on further-off projects." That's a reasonable explanation for the resource reallocation. It doesn't address the originality concerns, but it does suggest the November window is being treated as a hard target rather than a placeholder.

Epic has not officially announced the game, and no title, platforms, or pricing have been confirmed.