Sopa Pictures Lightrocket | Getty Images Fortnite creator Epic Games has raised $ 2 billion in funding from Sony and the Lego family in a huge deal that underscores big business enthusiasm for the so-called “metaverse.” Sony will contribute $ 1 billion to the company, Epic announced on Monday, while KIRKBI, the family investment company behind Lego, will invest an equal amount. The deal, which is subject to standard closing terms, would value Epic at $ 31.5 billion. The news is coming hot after a collaboration announced by Epic and Lego last week, aimed at co-developing a “family conversion” for children. Lego already has a successful line of video games based on lucrative franchises, such as Disney’s Star Wars and Warner Bros. Batman. “Part of our investment is focused on trends that we believe will affect the future world in which we and our children live,” Soren Thorup Sorensen, KIRKBI CEO, said in a statement on Monday. “This investment will accelerate our commitment to the world of digital gaming and we are pleased to invest in Epic Games to support their ongoing development journey, with a long-term focus on the future post-universe.” The advertising campaign around metaverse, a proposed network of huge virtual worlds, has flooded the corporate world lately. Facebook started the trend by renaming itself Meta and many big brands such as JPMorgan, Samsung and Nike have started experimenting with the technology. However, companies like Epic and Roblox have been talking for a long time about building a variable. Epic Battle-Royale game, Fortnite, allows up to 100 players to fight to be the last. But it has also evolved into other forms of entertainment, hosting music concerts by artists such as Travis Scott and Marshmello, for example. Roblox, meanwhile, wants to build a metaverse where millions of people can gather to play games or even work in a virtual economy powered by Robux, its own in-app currency. Epic Games CEO Tim Sweeney said the new funds would help the company “accelerate our work to build the post-universe.” “As we revisit the future of entertainment and gaming, we need partners who share our vision. We found that in our partnership with Sony and KIRKBI,” Sweeney said in a statement. While better known as the company behind Fortnite, Epic Games is a power of video games. The company has developed Unreal Engine, one of the largest platforms used to create games, and operates its own online toy store that competes with Microsoft and Valve. The company has been at the center of a heated dispute between app developers and Apple over the latter’s App Store charges. Last year, a judge ruled that Apple could no longer prevent developers from removing users from Apple’s payment system. The tech giant typically cuts 15% to 30% off all in-app purchases.
