It’s been a wild week in the metaverse, especially for Fortnite. Disney announced a huge partnership with Epic Games, but that’s not all – stand-up comedy is coming to Fortnite too. Meanwhile Minecraft is being used as the perfect AI training ground!
Disney & Fortnite Form the Most Epic Collab
Disney announced plans last week to invest $1.5 billion into Epic Games. CEO Bob Iger intends to collaborate with Epic Games to integrate IP from Disney, Marvel, Star Wars and more into Fortnite. This is the biggest foray into gaming that Disney has ever made. Designs for a Fortnite-like Disney world show the islands being interconnected with the larger Fortnite game. While it’s too early to say, this exciting partnership could lead to Fortnite characters showing up in the physical parks!
Watch Stand Up in Fortnite’s JokeNite
That’s not the end for Fortnite partnerships, former Daily Show host Trevor Noah is producing an in-game comedy club! The island is called JokeNite and features sets from four comedians: Matthew Broussard, Marcia Belsky, Scott Seiss, and Preacher Lawson. Players will get to vote on which comedian’s set they want to see first. They will also be able to test out Fortnite’s TV mode. This is the first stand-up experience in Fortnite but GTA tried this over ten years ago with comedians Katt Williams and Ricky Gervais. The implementation is different because Fortnite players have to travel to the island on their own. We’ll have to see if JokeNite can live up to the high bar GTA set!
Minecraft Becomes Testing Ground for AI
Moving on to Minecraft, researchers are using this best-selling game to train AI! Called MinePlanner, the project tests out AI’s ability to adapt to its surroundings with no previous information. The researchers do this by presenting different AI models like ENHSP and FastDownward with problems ranging from easy to difficult. So far, the AI programs have only been able to solve the easy to medium challenges. The hope is that in time, these programs will learn to tackle the more difficult problems.
That’s the biggest news out of the metaverse this week, with Disney’s partnership with Epic being the highlight. It will be interesting to see the games and islands that get created in Fortnite with Disney IP. Fortnite’s islands continue to break the mold with the introduction of a stand-up comedy club. Finally, Minecraft proves to be a strong place for researchers to train AI programs. These learnings could help AI playtest and build games in the future. Come back next week for more metaverse news!