Epic Games has announced that both Sony and Kirkbi – the holding company behind The Lego Group – have invested heavily in the Fortnite developer.
In a press release from today (April 11), Epic Games confirmed that both Kirkbi and Sony have invested around £768million ($1billion USD) in the company, with Sony already being an existing investor.
All three companies are aiming to create a “new [piece of] social entertainment” that will be a “connection between digital and physical worlds” via the metaverse.
Sony president and CEO Kenichiro Yoshida said: “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.”
Sony already invested in Epic games in mid-2020, when the company made a minority stake in Epic.
Kirkbi CEO Søren Thorup Sørensen added: “This investment will accelerate our engagement in the world of digital play, and we are pleased to be investing in Epic Games to support their continued growth journey, with a long-term focus toward the future metaverse.”
Epic Games and The Lego Group recently announced a joint video game project, where they will both be building “a place for kids to play in the metaverse”. The “family-friendly digital experience” will engage young people as creators and be designed in a way to keep them safe as they play.
Epic’s post-money equity valuation is currently £24.1billion ($31.5billion), meaning these new investments from both Sony and Kirkbi account for around six per cent of Epic Games’ current worth.
In other news, a new interview claims that Square Enix will be developing the recently announced Kingdom Hearts 4 in Unreal Engine 5, even though the trailer was running in real-time in Unreal Engine 4.
