Sony has invested $250 million in Epic Games, the developer behind video game hit Fortnite.
That money gets Sony a minority 1.4% stake in Epic Games, meaning the deal values Epic Games at an astonishing $17.86 billion according to a press release.
That release said that:
“The investment cements an already close relationship between the two companies and reinforces the shared mission to advance the state of the art in technology, entertainment, and socially-connected online services,” and that “The investment allows Sony and Epic to aim to broaden their collaboration across Sony’s leading portfolio of entertainment assets and technology, and Epic’s social entertainment platform and digital ecosystem to create unique experiences for consumers and creators.”
The investment is subject to regulatory approval but is expected to be acceptable.
It reinforces Sony’s partnership with Epic Games and as pointed out by VentureBeat follows the demo of Epic’s Unreal Engine 5 running on a PlayStation 5 back in May. But Epic has said that its engine will run on all platforms, including Microsoft’s Xbox Series X, so this investment from Sony is not expected to guarantee the PlayStation any kind of exclusive rights to the technology.
Epic has reportedly raised $1.83 billion dollars to date, underlining its rise to power within the intensely competitive gaming industry. In Fortnite, Epic has a game that exploded on mobile but then moved to consoles with equally record breaking results.
