Epic Games the maker of the popular game Fortnite has recently announced that it has secured funding of $2 billion from KIRKBI, Lego’s parent company and Sony. The companies have invested $1 billion each in Epic to give a boost to its plans of building a metaverse. After the received amount, the company has been evaluated at $31.5 billion.
Sony has also previously invested in Epic to strengthen its collaboration and bring new entertainment experiences to people all over the world. This announcement comes shortly after Epic partnered with Lego with the purpose of building a metaverse that is fun and safe for kids. The companies together want to build an immersive metaverse experience for kids. It did not provide any concrete details about this. All we know is that they are aiming to create a “family friendly take on the metaverse”
With this funding, the companies want to explore the connection between the physical world and the digital world by creating new social entertainment. Sony seems to be thrilled with the investment made in Epic Games. Kenichiro Yoshida, Chairman, President and CEO of Sony Group said in a statement, “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.”
Epic Games is renowned for building creative and playful experiences that empower creators. Soren Thorup Sorensen, CEO of KIRKBI, also said, “This investment will accelerate our engagement in the world of digital play, and we are pleased to be investing in Epic Games to support their continued growth journey, with a long-term focus toward the future metaverse.”
The three companies want to channel this investment in a way that it supports, accelerates and increases their engagement in the digital world and metaverse. Tim Sweeney, the CEO of Epic Games believes that in order to reimagine the future of entertainment, the company needs partners with a shared vision and it has found this in Sony and KIRKBI.
“This investment will accelerate our engagement in the world of digital play, and we are pleased to be investing in Epic Games to support their continued growth journey, with a long-term focus toward the future metaverse.”
-Soren Thorup Sorensen, CEO of KIRKBI
This investment will be aimed at creating a platform where brands and creators can create immersive experiences and build a community. It could prove to be a huge push into the world of metaverse by looking at the stand-alone efforts these companies have made. Sony recently acquired Bungie, a video developer company, and also the developers of the popular game Destiny.
Epic Games has also been pro to ideas related to a connected virtual world, which they have advocated through its platforms like Fortnite and Unreal Engine.
Although the term metaverse has been fairly nebulous we can consider that Epic Games is one of the companies that remains the closest to the vision of metaverse that tech companies have in their minds.
