Epic Games has announced that existing investor Sony Group Corporation and KIRKBI (the holding and investment company behind the Lego group) have contributed $1 billion each for a $2 billion funding round. Epic will remain under the control of CEO and founder Tim Sweeney. The partnership between The Lego Group and Epic Games was announced last week, with their combined goal to make a kids Metaverse that was "safe and fun for children and families". With the full release of Unreal Engine 5 last week, we're most likely going to see these new experiences sooner rather than later.
“As we reimagine the future of entertainment and play we need partners who share our vision. We have found this in our partnership with Sony and KIRKBI,” said Tim Sweeney, CEO and Founder, Epic Games. “This investment will accelerate our work to build the metaverse and create spaces where players can have fun with friends, brands can build creative and immersive experiences and creators can build a community and thrive.”
Epic Games also received funding from Sony nearly a year ago to the day back on April 13, 2021. Back then, Epic Games was valued at $28.7 billion, so within a year they've nearly added four billion in value and gotten $1.2 billion in investment from Sony. The earlier funding round was a "200M strategic investment" to advance technology, entertainment, and socially-connected services... or the Metaverse. Sony seems to be playing the long game here, with their purchase of Bungie and overall focus on games as a service indicating that this is all part of their focus on ongoing digital experiences. Hopefully, it'll be better than PlayStation Home, but I won't hold my breath.
“As a creative entertainment company, we are thrilled to invest in Epic to deepen our relationship in the metaverse field, a space where creators and users share their time.” said Kenichiro Yoshida, Chairman, President and CEO, Sony Group Corporation. “We are also confident that Epic’s expertise, including their powerful game engine, combined with Sony’s technologies, will accelerate our various efforts such as the development of new digital fan experiences in sports and our virtual production initiatives.”
After this $2 billion funding round, Epic Games is now valued at $31.5 billion. We'll have to see where Epic goes from here, but right now it's so huge that it's hard to fathom it getting even bigger.
For more information on Epic Games, Sony and Lego, and the Metaverse, stay tuned to TechRaptor.
