The developer of Unreal Engine and Fortnite announced a new round of funding. This time, Epic Games raised $2 billion. The investors were Sony Group Corporation and KIRKBI, which owns 75% of LEGO Group. The funds will be used to create a metaverse.
Fortnite
Each of the mentioned investors will contribute one billion dollars to Epic Games, based on the new valuation of the company at $31.5 billion. In other words, they are purchasing a 6.35% stake.
The deal is not yet closed, and there are no details on when it will be finalized. Information about any specific contractual terms is also unavailable.
As this involves purchasing a relatively small stake in the company, Tim Sweeney, the CEO and founder of the company, retains control over it.
Regarding the deal's objectives, the funds received, according to Sweeney, are intended to accelerate the “effort to build the metaverse and create spaces where players can have fun with friends, brands can deliver new experiences, and creators can build communities.”
It is also reported that:
- all companies involved in the deal are focused on creating a new form of social entertainment connected to interactions with both the digital and real physical world;
- Sony is confident that Epic Games' expertise will assist in the development of entertainment software related to sports and virtual reality;
- KIRKBI hopes the deal will accelerate its involvement in digital projects.
For Epic Games, according to CrunchBase, this is the 12th round. To date, the company has raised a total of $7.1 billion.
Investments in Epic Games up to August last year (Craft)
For Sony, this is the third investment in Sweeney's company. Previously, in the summer of 2020, the Japanese corporation invested $250 million in Epic Games and another $200 million in the spring of 2021.