Epic Wants Nearly $2 Billion More in Funding

Epic Games, maker of uber-successful video game “Fortnite,” is in discussions for a fundraising round that could bring in as much as $1.7 billion, per Bloomberg.

If completed, the company would be valued at $28 billion — it has already secured more than $1 billion, and the final amount to be raised hasn’t been set. 

The news comes after Epic closed a $1.78 billion round in August, which included $250 million from Sony.

Bloomberg speculates that some of the money raised will go toward Epic’s legal battles with Apple and Google over “anticompetitive behavior.” Many of the investors are existing backers, but new mutual funds and institutional investors may be involved.

Epic was founded nearly 30 years ago and continues to rapidly expand.

• It announced this week it’s teaming up with Cesium to “enable 3D geospatial technology” in games using the Unreal Engine.
• Last month, it purchased the parent company of Mediatonic, Tonic Games Group, which is best known for “Fall Guys.” 
• In 2019, it bought Psyonix, maker of racing/soccer hybrid “Rocket League” and social video app Houseparty.

Last year, PC gamers spent over $700 million at its Epic Games Store. As of May, Fortnite counted 350 million players worldwide.