CARY – Epic Games, the privately held company that publishes the globally popular online game Fortnite, has landed $1.25 billion in new investment capital from some of the biggest names in venture capital.
To put the funding in perspective, all venture capital in North Carolina may not match that total for all of 2018.
Epic, which sold a significant portion of the company to China-based Fortnite for $330 million, in 2013, disclosed the funding Friday. Tim Sweeney, the firm’s cofounder and CEO, remains the largest shareholder.
Reached to seek additional details by WRAL TechWire, a company spokesperson replied: “Thanks for the opportunity. We are not commenting further on today’s news but appreciate you reaching out.”
Triangle reaction to Epic Games’ epic $1.25B funding? ‘WOW’ … ‘Great news’
Tim Sweeney
“We’re excited to partner with the finest minds in the financial, sports, and entertainment communities,” Sweeney said in a statement.
“This reinforces Epic’s position of leadership in real-time 3D technology, and accelerates our ability to improve the way people play, work, and interact with the world.”
The success of Fortnite, which has produced hundreds of millions of dollars in revenue for the company over the past year, has led to Bloomberg news to value Epic Games at some $8 billion and estimate that Sweeney is a billionaire.
“Epic Games has fundamentally changed the model for interactive entertainment under the company’s visionary leadership,” said Ted Oberwager of KKR, in the announcement.
Investors include KKR, Kleiner Perkins, Lightspeed Venture Partners, Iconiq Capital, Smash Ventures and aXiomatic which is backed by former NBA star Michael Jordan.
Other backers include Tencent and Disney.
The investment now values Epic Games at $15 billion, according to The Wall Street Journal.
