Fortnite developer Epic Games raised 1.25 billion dollars, approximately 1.1 billion euros, in an investment round. The company is now valued at 13.1 billion euros.
The investors are KKR, ICONIQ Capital, Smash Ventures, aXiomatic, Vulcan Capital, Kleiner Perkins, and Lightspeed Venture Partners, writes The Wall Street Journal. Already Tencent and Disney also invested large amounts in the American game maker. According to Epic, however, founder and CEO Tim Sweeney remains at the helm, despite the considerable amounts.
What exactly is done with the money, Epic Games does not spend on it. The only thing that Sweeney lets go about is that the investments ‘strengthen Epic’s dominant position in the market of real-time 3D technology’ and that the money goes to ‘improving how people play, work and deal with the world’.
Epic Games is now known for free-to-play game Fortnite: Battle Royale. The game is by far the most popular battle royale game of the moment and even one of the most popular games in the world. Other well-known franchises from the Epic stable are Unreal, Gears of War and Jazz Jackrabbit. The studio is also responsible for the Unreal Engine.