Epic Games announced it has raised $1.78 billion in new funding. With the new raise, Epic is now valued at $17.3 billion. A previous billion dollar round closed in 2018, valuing the company at $15 billion.
Along with developing Fortnite, which now has 350 million active players, Epic is also the developer of the Unreal game engine, which drives many of the top games in the $150 billion gaming industry. Epic has also looked to create immersive community events within Fortnite, ranging from concerts to movie showings. Next week, Fortnite players can watch an exclusive episode premiere of Discovery Channel’s “Shark Week” in-game.
Among the new investors is Sony, which last month bought 1.4% of Epic for $250 million. Chinese technology company Tencent owns roughly 40% of the company dating back to a $330 million investment in 2012.
Several high profile investors joined Sony in the latest round:
— Carolina Panthers owner David Tepper
— Lightspeed Venture Partners
— Fidelity Management and Research Company
— Funds and accounts managed by T. Rowe Price and BlackRock
— Investment firm Baillie Gifford
