Valuation of Fortnite creator Epic Games soars to $28bn after lockdown demand
The owner of two big pandemic winners, Fortnite and Houseparty, has reportedly closed a new fundraising round which brings its valuation to around $28bn.
Epic Games is finalising the terms of a $1bn fundraising just seven months after its last round, according to Sky News.
Last summer the Houseparty-owner secured a $17.3bn valuation after a $1.78bn round, which included $250m from Sony for a reported 1.4 per cent stake in the country.
Investors included funds managed by Blackrock, Baillie Gifford, Fidelity and SpaceX backer Ontario Teachers’ Pension Plan Board.
It is unclear whether any major new investors are involved in the latest fundraising round.
Spending on video games has surged during lockdown but Epic Games has attracted criticism over the addictive nature of Fortnite.
Tim Sweeney, who founded the company 30 years ago, retains outright control of the company.
He has led a backlash by app developers against Apple and Google’s power in the industry. Last month ratcheted its battle with Apple over app store payments by filing a European anti-trust complaint.
The companies have been locked in a dispute since August, when Epic launched its own in-app payment system in a bid to sidestep Apple’s 30 per cent commission on some in-app purchases.
The move prompted the iPhone maker to kick Epic’s Fortnite off the app store and pull the company’s developer licence.
In the complaint Epic accused Apple of setting up a “series of carefully designed anti-competitive restrictions”, adding that the tech giant had “not just harmed but completely eliminated competition in app distribution and payment processes”.