If it wasn’t already evident, the free-to-play title Fortnite has a been a huge success for Epic Games.
In the latest news, Epic has closed a $1.25 billion investment deal with a group of private equity backers. KKR, ICONIQ Capital, Smash Ventures, aXiomatic Gaming, Vulcan Capital, Kleiner Perkins and Lightspeed Venture Partners are now the newest minority shareholders in the company. Existing partners include Tencent, Disney and Endeavor.
A KKR representative said the special group of investors were thrilled to support Epic’s dedicated team and passionate community of players. Epic Founder and CEO Tim Sweeney said the new partnerships reinforced his company’s position of leadership in real-time 3D technology and would accelerate the way people play, work and interact with the world. According to the Wall Street Journal, the deal values Epic Games at $15 billion, with the overall sales for the game this year expected to top $4 billion.
Sweeney originally founded Epic in 1991 in his parent’s basement. Fortnite quickly became a cultural phenomenon when the battle royale mode was added during the latter development phase of the game in 2017. In 2012, 40 percent of Epic was sold to the Chinese internet company Tencent Holdings which has since led to more partnerships.