Sony makes $200m strategic investment into Epic’s metaverse

Epic has just completed a $1bn funding round to allow the company to “support future growth opportunities.”

The standout investor of the latest round was Sony, with a $200m “strategic investment,” according to a statement made by Epic. The investment as part of an increasingly close working relationship between the two companies of late. This investment follows a $250m round from July last year.

Fortnite recently saw the addition of Horizon Zero Dawn star Aloy for instance, while PS5 was the key demo platform for the upcoming Unreal Engine 5. “[The investment] reinforces their shared mission to advance the state of the art in technology, entertainment, and socially-connected online services”

The investment round now values Epic Games at $28.7bn. The largest single investor remains Tencent to our knowledge, which paid $330m for a 40 per cent stake back in 2013 (quite a smart move in retrospect). Epic CEO Tim Sweeney, though, still retains full control of the company.

“We are grateful to our new and existing investors who support our vision for Epic and the Metaverse. Their investment will help accelerate our work around building connected social experiences in Fortnite, Rocket League and Fall Guys, while empowering game developers and creators with Unreal Engine, Epic Online Services and the Epic Games Store,” said Tim Sweeney, CEO and Founder, Epic Games.

“Epic continues to deliver revolutionary experiences through their array of cutting edge technologies that support creators in gaming and across the digital entertainment industry. We are excited to strengthen our collaboration to bring new entertainment experiences to people around the world. I strongly believe that this aligns with our purpose to fill the world with emotion, through the power of creativity and technology,” said Kenichiro Yoshida, Chairman, President and CEO, Sony Group Corporation.

Other investors in the round included: Appaloosa, Baillie Gifford, Fidelity Management & Research Company LLC, GIC, funds and accounts advised by T. Rowe Price Associates, Ontario Teachers’ Pension Plan Board, funds and accounts managed by BlackRock, Park West, KKR, AllianceBernstein, Altimeter, Franklin Templeton and Luxor Capital.