Epic Games, the company behind global smash hit “Fortnite,” announced that it completed a $1 billion round of funding — giving it a whopping equity valuation of $28.7 billion.
The round includes an additional $200 million investment from Sony, which pumped $250 million into Epic last year (for an implied valuation of $17.9 billion at the time). The upped investment from Sony “builds on the already close relationship between the two companies and reinforces their shared mission to advance the state of the art in technology, entertainment, and socially connected online services,” Epic said in a statement.
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Other investors in Epic’s latest round include Appaloosa, Baillie Gifford, Fidelity Management & Research Co., GIC, funds and accounts advised by T. Rowe Price Associates, ontario Teachers’ Pension Plan Board, funds and accounts managed by BlackRock, Park West, KKR, AllianceBernstein, Altimeter, Franklin Templeton and Luxor Capital.
Epic continues to have only a single class of common stock outstanding and founder/CEO Tim Sweeney remains the company’s controlling shareholder.
“We are grateful to our new and existing investors who support our vision for Epic and the metaverse,” Sweeney said in a statement. “Their investment will help accelerate our work around building connected social experiences in ‘Fortnite,’ ‘Rocket League’ and ‘Fall Guys,’ while empowering game developers and creators with Unreal Engine, Epic online Services and the Epic Games Store.”
Kenichiro Yoshida, chairman, president and CEO of Sony Group, said in a statement, “Epic continues to deliver revolutionary experiences through their array of cutting edge technologies that support creators in gaming and across the digital entertainment industry. We are excited to strengthen our collaboration to bring new entertainment experiences to people around the world. I strongly believe that this aligns with our purpose to fill the world with emotion, through the power of creativity and technology,”
In the funding round, Credit Suisse and BofA Securities acted as joint placement agents to Epic, and Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati provided legal counsel.
