Disney Extraction Shooter From Epic Games Reportedly in Works

Epic Games' next Disney project is reportedly shaping up as an extraction shooter, with a November 2026 target and a massive pool of characters, locations, and ideas to draw from.

You could soon have a different reason to jump into an extraction shooter. Epic Games is reportedly developing a Disney extraction shooter that could bring together characters and worlds from across Disney's library. The project is currently unnamed, but the reported target is November 2026, giving the game a potentially busy launch window.

The project is part of a wider Disney-Epic Games partnership that began with Disney's $1.5 billion investment in Epic in 2024. The agreement covers three games, and the first project is reportedly the one drawing the most attention: a shooting game built around the extraction format.

The basic comparison is to ARC Raiders, Embark Studios' extraction shooter that launched to strong player numbers and became a major success for its developer. The comparison to ARC Raiders doesn't mean the Disney extraction shooter will simply copy its formula.

Instead, the idea appears to be using the same broad genre while giving Epic a huge collection of familiar characters, settings, and equipment to build around. That is where the project starts to get interesting. You could potentially see Marvel heroes alongside Star Wars characters, Disney classics,s and Pixar favorites.

The exact lineup has not been revealed, so none of those characters are confirmed for the game. Still, the size of the Disney catalog gives Epic an unusually large pool of material. You have already seen Disney properties become a regular part of Epic's platform over the years.

Buzz Lightyear and Emperor Zurg are two recent examples, while Marvel has appeared in the game repeatedly.

Epic also recently gave players tools to create their own Star Wars experiences. Those moves show how comfortable the two companies have become with bringing Disney properties into Epic's ecosystem. The big difference is that this project is reportedly being developed as its own game rather than simply another Fortnite mode.

That distinction matters because Epic has also announced plans to shut down Rocket Racing, Ballistic and Festival's Battle Stage experiences inside Epic's platform. With some Fortnite-adjacent projects being retired, a standalone Disney extraction shooter could give Epic room to build something with its own identity, progression and long-term plans.

There is still a major concern behind all of this, though: the gameplay itself. Sources familiar with the project reportedly say some people at Epic are optimistic about its launch, but internal reviews have raised concerns about the game's core mechanic. That detail matters because famous characters alone aren't enough to make an extraction shooter work.

You need the moment-to-moment combat, movement, progression, and extraction loop to feel good. You also need a reason to keep coming back after you have learned the maps and collected the gear. The Disney extraction shooter could have an enormous content advantage, but that advantage only matters if the underlying game is strong.

That issue has become especially noticeable around ARC Raiders.

The launch was a hit; reviews were glowing, and players showed up in droves. But it didn't last. Numbers started dropping in January of this year and never bounced back. Updates were slow to come, and when new content finally landed, it usually fell flat. Honestly, a lot of players just stopped seeing the point in logging back in.

Even fans who put dozens of hours into the game can eventually reach a point where they feel they have seen everything worth seeing. That gives Epic an obvious lesson to learn. A Disney extraction shooter cannot depend on its characters alone.

It needs regular additions that feel meaningful, whether those come through new maps, new mechanics, new weapons, or new playable characters. The Disney catalog could make that easier than it is for many competitors, but Epic still has to turn those ideas into a satisfying game.

The maps could become the real X-factor. Instead of relying on familiar military or sci-fi environments, Epic could create locations based on recognizable Disney worlds. A map inspired by Andy's Room could offer a completely different scale and visual identity from a Tatooine setting.

Those locations could also help the game feel like a Disney project instead of an ordinary extraction shooter with licensed skins added afterward.

The same applies to equipment. A lightsaber would immediately give the combat a different flavor, while Iron Man's repulsors could provide a completely different way to move or attack. Captain America's shield could become another recognizable weapon with its own mechanics.

The possibilities extend beyond Marvel, Star Wars, and Pixar, too, because Disney controls a much wider range of entertainment properties. The wider catalog even includes Fox properties such as Alien and Predator. That does not mean those franchises are confirmed to appear, and the reported project could end up focusing on a much smaller selection of Disney-owned worlds.

Still, the amount of material available to Epic is difficult to ignore. At the same time, the wider partnership appears to have some complications. The other two games included in the Disney-Epic agreement have reportedly not progressed in the same way.

The second project reportedly received average internal reviews, while development resources for the third game have been shifted elsewhere. Disney has reportedly been disappointed with the progress of another project, leading it to move resources around.

Epic has pushed back on the idea that those developments reflect the collaboration's overall ambition.

The company has said its timelines have always been aggressive and that developers have been moved toward projects with closer release dates while smaller teams continue prototyping projects that are further away. Disney, meanwhile, has maintained that its long-term collaboration with Epic has strong momentum and that the broader plan for a games and entertainment universe remains unchanged.

That makes the reported November 2026 window particularly interesting. The year is already underway, yet Disney has not made a major public reveal of the extraction shooter. If that target remains accurate, an announcement and a more substantial look at the project should arrive before launch.

Until then, treat the release date and details as reported information rather than final confirmation from Epic. It also remains unclear exactly how the game will connect to Fortnite, if at all. The safest expectation is that it will be a separate title, especially because the three-game deal appears to cover distinct projects.

That would allow Epic to build the Disney extraction shooter around its own systems instead of making every feature fit within Fortnite. There is a lot of potential here, but the same rule applies as with any live-service game: the foundation has to work.

The Disney extraction shooter can attract attention, Marvel can bring familiar heroes, Star Wars can provide recognizable worlds, and Pixar can add another layer of variety. None of that replaces good combat or a compelling extraction loop.

If Epic gets those fundamentals right, the project could draw from a much wider range of content than most games in the genre.

New characters could arrive alongside new locations, while recognizable weapons and abilities could change how each match plays. That combination could give the Disney extraction shooter a strong identity without requiring it to imitate ARC Raiders too closely.

For now, the reported November 2026 release for the Disney extraction shooter remains the biggest detail attached to the project. The game itself is still unnamed, its character roster is unknown, and the specific mechanic reportedly causing internal concern has not been revealed. What is clearer is that Epic and Disney appear to be aiming for something larger than a simple collection of crossover skins. 

The project's success will ultimately come down to execution. If Epic can turn Disney's library into useful gameplay rather than decoration, the result could be one of the more unusual entries in the extraction shooter space. The partnership gives the developers plenty to work with; the challenge is making it all come together in a game that stays worth playing long after launch.