14 april 2021
15:36
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The American gaming company Epic Games raises a billion dollars and is now valued at 28.7 billion dollars.
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Topman Tim Sweeney remains the controlling shareholder even after the capital round. The Japanese Sony invested 200 million dollars. In July last year, Sony injected $ 250 million into the US company, with a 1.4 percent stake and a valuation of $ 17.9 billion.
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CEO Tim Sweeney strives for a digital environment where users have social contacts and ultimately also work and study.
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Epic Games has recently been in the news mainly due to a conflict with Apple that bans the popular game Fortnite from its app store. This measure came after Epic Games introduced its own payment system in its app. It did that to avoid the 30 percent commission that Apple charges. There is now a lawsuit with Apple.
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Fortnite
Epic Games launched the free ‘battle-royal’ game Fortnite in 2017. Players spend a lot of money on digital items such as free dances and skins. The game is still quite popular, although quite a few gamers say that the peak is over. Streaming videos from successful gamers are watched by millions.
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There are also performances and game events hosted in Fortnite that are attended by millions of players at the same time. That fits Sweeney’s vision. Who strives for a ‘metaverse‘, a digital environment where users have social contacts and go to performances, and ultimately also work and study. ‘The metaverse should not be controlled by one company, but should belong to everyone. Only then can you get a free and fair virtual economy, ”he said at a conference earlier this year.
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Jellybeans
Epic Games is much more than Fortnite. It has other games as well and recently took over UK studio Mediatonic. He made the game Fall Guys, a battle royal with quite some success. The company also runs the Epic Games Store and is a competitor to Steam from the gaming company Valve. The store, with about 160 million users, is loss-making.
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With Unreal Engine, Sweeney has a software platform that many developers use to create video games and which is also used for film and television. Relations with Sony appear to be very good. Epic used the PS5 console to demonstrate the Unreal Engine 5 and both companies are collaborating on technical aspects of the PS5. “We’ve been working closely with Sony on storage architecture for a long time,” says Sweeney.
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