Yesterday, Epic Games announced a $2 billion funding round to boost the firm’s futuristic vision of building the metaverse and supporting its continued development.
The funding round is led by investments from existing investors Sony Group Corporation and KIRKBI, the family-owned holding and investment company behind The LEGO Group. Each of the firms invested $1 billion in the round.
Sony, KIRKBI and Epic Games appreciate creators as well as players. These firms jointly intend to build new social entertainment traversing the links between digital and physical worlds.
A proportion of investments from KIRKBI will be directed towards studying trends that have the potential to impact the future world.
Founded by CEO, Tim Sweeney, Epic Games is headquartered in Cary, North Carolina. Sweeney commented, “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.”
Sweeney further added that these investments will accelerate their efforts to build the metaverse. This also includes creating spaces where players can have fun with friends, brands can build creative and immersive experiences and creators can create a community and thrive.
Interestingly, last year, Sweeney had also claimed that the firm would welcome blockchain focussed games provided they are law-compliant. These statements came after its rival Valve announced that it will not allow any blockchain-based games or non-fungible token-based content on its platform ‘Steam’.
Strikingly, Epic’s post-money equity valuation has reached $31.5 billion. The official blog also reveals that the closing of the investment is subject to customary closing terms, including regulatory approvals.
Gaming has a history of pushing through innovative and immersive technology, and what better channel to achieve this than metaverse and NFTs! Recently, in a similar instance, Sega hinted at integrating NFTs and cloud gaming into its video games.
