Following Epic Games’ metaverse partnership with the LEGO Group from last week, the Unreal Engine maker has announced LEGO’s Parent Company, KIRKBI and Sony have invested $1 billion each toward the Fortnite creator.
Epic Games states the additional round of funding is set to “advance the company’s vision to build the metaverse and support its continued growth.” Following the $2 billion investment, Epic Games’ post-money equity valuation is priced at $31.5 billion USD which was previously valued at $28.7 billion back in May 2021. The huge investment from KIRKBI is a part of the company’s interest to accelerate its work in building a “metaverse and create spaces where players can have fun with friends.”
“As we reimagine the future of entertainment and play, we need partners who share our vision. We have found this in our partnership with Sony and KIRKBI. This investment will accelerate our work to build the metaverse and create spaces where players can have fun with friends, brands can build creative and immersive experiences and creators can build a community and thrive,” Epic Games CEO and founder, Tim Sweeney, said in a statement.
The additional funding from Sony is more than doubles the company’s first two investments into Epic Games which were $250 million USD in July 2020 and $200 USD million in April 2021. This means so far PlayStation’s parent company has invested a total of $1.45 billion USD which Sony says represents strengthening the relationship between the two companies in the metaverse field. The Epic Games investment follows Sony’s acquisition of Bungie for $3.6 billion USD and Haven Studios.
“As a creative entertainment company, we are thrilled to invest in Epic to deepen our relationship in the metaverse field, a space where creators and users share their time. We are also confident that Epic’s expertise, including their powerful game engine, combined with Sony’s technologies, will accelerate our various efforts such as the development of new digital fan experiences in sports and our virtual production initiatives,” Sony Group Corporation chairman, president and CEO, Kenichiro Yoshida said in a statement.
