- Sony has made a $250 million investment in Epic Games;
- Epic Games had raised $1.58 billion in three prior rounds of funding.
Sony invested $250 million in Epic Games, the game development studio that created Fortnite, in exchange for 1.4% of ownership in the company.
“The investment cements an already close relationship between the two companies and reinforces the shared mission to advance the state of the art in technology, entertainment, and socially-connected online services,” the companies said in a joint statement.
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According to The Verge, a line in the press release that suggests Sony and Epic may want to create Fortnite-like virtual multimedia experiences: “we share a vision of real-time 3D social experiences leading to a convergence of gaming, film, and music,” said Epic CEO and founder Tim Sweeney.
Sony has subsidiaries like Sony Pictures and Sony Music that it might want to tie closer to its PlayStation division’s games using Epic’s know-how.
Forbes said Sony’s investment gives Epic Games a valuation of nearly $18 billion.
Epic Games had raised $1.58 billion in three prior rounds of funding, including an investment from Chinese tech company Tencent, owner of WeChat app, in 2012.
