Disney and Epic Games Hand ‘The Simpsons’ to Fortnite Creators With New IP Toolkit
Disney and Epic Games have announced that The Simpsons is joining Fortnite's IP Partner Program, giving the game's global developer community access to Springfield's characters, locations, and assets through an official Unreal Editor for Fortnite toolkit launching later this year. The move follows the success of the official Star Wars toolkit.
Springfield is coming to Fortnite — and this time, developers get to build it. At Unreal Fest in Chicago, Disney and Epic Games announced that The Simpsons is joining Fortnite's IP Partner Program, putting one of the world's most beloved franchises directly into the hands of the game's global creator community.
The announcement was made by Ray Gresko, SVP and Head of Product and Development at Disney Digital Entertainment. With the official toolkit arriving later this year, developers will have access to a rich library of iconic characters, locations, and assets — all Unreal Editor for Fortnite (UEFN)-ready — to build Simpsons-themed games inside Fortnite.
Key Details
- What: The Simpsons joins the Fortnite IP Partner Program
- Toolkit: Unreal Editor for Fortnite-ready characters, locations, and assets
- When: Available to Fortnite developers later this year
- Announced at: Unreal Fest, Chicago
Iconic IP Meets Creative Freedom
The Simpsons IP toolkit follows the success of the official Star Wars toolkit, which demonstrated what becomes possible when world-class IP meets world-class creator tools. Within the first 72 hours of that launch, nearly 8 million players jumped into custom Star Wars islands built by the community. Galactic Siege racked up 6.53 million total plays in its first six days, Escape Vader drew 3.37 million plays over the same span, and Droid Tycoon became the second most-played experience in Fortnite that week.
A Franchise for Every Generation
The Simpsons is a natural next chapter for the IP Partner Program. More than 80 million players spent 780 million hours in the Fortnite x The Simpsons season last fall — and the cultural reach extended well beyond the game. The animated short that accompanied the launch and set up the crossover shot to No. 1 on Disney+ Top 10 Today in the US, a reminder that great IP doesn't stay in one lane. For some creators and players, Homer and Bart are childhood icons; for others, they're being discovered for the first time through a Fortnite island or a Disney+ recommendation.
Building the Disney Social Entertainment Universe
That cross-platform momentum is exactly what Disney and Epic set out to create. The IP Partner Program is central to a broader ambition: an environment where creators work with Disney's iconic franchises and Epic's developer tools to build experiences that bring in new fans and deepen the connection with existing ones.
The Simpsons IP Toolkit will be available to Fortnite developers through the IP Partner Program later this year. With Star Wars already proving the model and Springfield next in line, Disney's vision for a creator-driven social entertainment universe is coming into sharper focus.
What This Means for Disney Fans
For fans, this is more than a licensing deal — it's an open invitation to play in Springfield. Once the toolkit arrives, the same community that built millions of plays' worth of Star Wars adventures will be free to recreate Moe's Tavern, the Kwik-E-Mart, or the Springfield Nuclear Power Plant as full-fledged Fortnite experiences. If the Star Wars rollout is any indication, the most memorable Simpsons games in Fortnite may end up coming not from a studio, but from the creators themselves.