Epic Games has purchased the Tonic Games Group, which includes Fall Guys studio Mediatonic, The Irregular Corporation, and Fortitude Games.
Epic Games announced the acquisition today and was quick to assuage Fall Guys‘ current players. “Your gameplay isn’t changing and Epic will continue to invest in making the game a great experience for players across platforms. Your favorite colorful beans will still stumble through the chaos on PC, PlayStation, and soon Nintendo Switch and Xbox.”
Epic has been acquiring developers as part of its ongoing campaign to carve out a niche in the gaming industry, particularly against its main competition, Steam and Apple. Fall Guys is a natural addition to the home of Fortnite, but if Rocket League is any indication, the adorable mascots may be racing away from Steam in the future. A year after Epic purchased its developer, Psyonix, Rocket League was delisted from Steam and went free to play. For the time being, Mediatonic has “nothing to announce” in regards to a free-to-play move, and future updates will be available on all platforms as intended.
“At Tonic Games Group we often say that ‘everyone deserves a game that feels like it was made for them,’” said Tonic co-founder and CEO, Dave Bailey. “With Epic, we feel like we have found a home that was made for us. They share our mission to build and support games that have a positive impact, empower others and stand the test of time and we couldn’t be more excited to be joining forces with their team.”
“Whether it’s about making our own games the best they can be or empowering other game developers to take their content from a kernel of an idea to commercial success, we know that together we will be able to reach greater heights,” added co-founder and Chief Games Officer Paul Croft.
“It’s no secret that Epic is invested in building the metaverse and Tonic Games shares this goal,” said Epic Games founder and CEO Tim Sweeney. As Epic works to build this virtual future, we need great creative talent who know how to build powerful games, content and experiences.”
Meanwhile, Epic Games will meet Apple in court this May to settle an antitrust lawsuit regarding iOS’ business practices.
