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“Fortnite” and “Fall Guys,” together at last.
Epic Games, maker of the money-printing hit “Fortnite,” is buying Tonic Games Group, parent company of Mediatonic, best known for the wildly popular “Fall Guys.” The purchase also includes Fortitude Games, a niche developer that launched in 2018. Terms weren’t disclosed.
For Epic, the acquisition continues an incredible run that has left it with few equals in the gaming world.
Last year, PC gamers spent over $700 million at its Epic Games Store, and in December the store had over 56 million monthly active users. In August, Epic announced it had raised $1.78 billion at a $17.3 billion valuation. The funding included $250 million from Sony.
In 2019, Epic bought Psyonix, maker of racing/soccer hybrid “Rocket League,” and social video app Houseparty. It’s not alone in buying up gaming companies.
- In September, Microsoft shelled out $7.5 billion for ZeniMax Media, parent company to Bethesda Softworks. Bethesda makes hits like “Fallout” and “Doom.”
- Electronic Arts bought Codemasters, known for its racing games, for $1.2 billion last December.
- In February, HP said it plans to acquire HyperX, which makes headsets, USB microphones, and other gear targeted at gamers, for $425 million.
Meanwhile, Epic continues its legal slugfest with Apple and Google in European courts. Apple and Google delisted “Fortnite” from their app stores after Epic introduced a way for gamers to pay the company directly, circumventing each tech giant’s 30% transaction fee.
On Feb. 17, Epic Games announced it had filed an antitrust lawsuit against Apple in the European Union.
The company is not taking on the tech titans alone. Microsoft threw its support behind Epic, seeking to prevent Apple from blocking use of Epic’s Unreal Engine, a game creation platform used by Microsoft, among many others.
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