Mediatonic Battle Royals hit game, the game Fall Guys.
Mediatonic
LONDON – Fortnite developer Epic Games has agreed to acquire Tonic Games Group, the British firm behind the hit video game Fall Guys.
Fall Guys became an instant hit when it launched last summer and attracted millions of players within a month of its release. The game estimates that up to 60 people play as jellyfish competing to get a series of sweet-colored obstacle races to win crowns, the game currency that players use to buy cosmetics.
He was helped in large part by a wave of video game demand during the coronavirus pandemic. The deal with Epic comes amid a plethora of acquisitions in the gaming industry. Last year, Microsoft agreed to buy the iconic Bethesda gaming group for $ 7.5 billion, while EA recently closed its $ 1.2 billion acquisition by British racing game maker Codemasters.
“It’s no secret that Epic is investing in the creation of the metaverse and that Tonic Games shares that goal,” he said. Tim Sweeney, founder and CEO of Epic in a statement. “While Epic is working to build this virtual future, we need great creative talent who knows how to build powerful games, content and experiences.”
The financial terms of the deal were not disclosed.
Fortnite and Fall Guys are similar in that they both fit into the popular battle royale genre, which became popular due to Fortnite’s massive success. Since its launch in 2017, Fortnite has amassed more than 350 million players. This caught the attention of notable investors like Sony, which invested $ 250 million in Epic last year. The last company was valued at $ 17.3 billion.
At the same time, Epic has been locked in a tense legal fight with Apple over the iPhone manufacturer’s app store policies. Epic last year released a version of Fortnite in Apple’s App Store that included a method for users to shop from the app without Apple having the usual 30% discount. Apple later withdrew the Fortnite app and Epic sued Apple later.