After having acquired a minority stake in Epic Games last year that cost $250 million, Sony has once again pledged its commitment to the partnership. Today, the publisher has announced a successful new round of funding totally $1 billion, $200 million of which was from Sony as the pair seek to fulfill a “shared mission to advance the state of the art in technology, entertainment, and socially-connected online services.”
Epic’s equity valuation is now $28.7 billion.
“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, in a statement included in today’s press release.
“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 investment partners in the latest round of funding include 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. Epic continues to have only a single class of common stock outstanding and CEO Tim Sweeney remains the controlling shareholder of the company.
