Game mode in the successful Royale Mediatonic Fall Guys fighting game.
Mediatonic
LONDON – Fortnite developer Epic Games has agreed to acquire Tonic Games Group, the British company behind the Fall Guys video game.
Fall Guys became an instant hit when it was released last summer, attracting millions of players within a month of launch. The game sees up to 60 people playing as jellies competing to get through a series of candy-colored obstacle courses to win crowns, the currency in the game that players then use to buy cosmetics.
He was largely helped by a wave of video game demand during the coronavirus pandemic. The deal with Epic comes amid a series of acquisitions in the gaming industry. Last year, Microsoft agreed to buy the flagship gaming group Bethesda for $ 7.5 billion, while EA recently closed the $ 1.2 billion takeover of British racing game maker Codemasters.
“It’s no secret that Epic is invested in building the metaverse, and Tonic Games shares that goal,” he said. Tim Sweeney, founder and CEO of Epic in a statement. “As Epic works to build this virtual future, we need great creative talent to build strong games, content and experiences.”
The financial terms of the transaction were not disclosed.
Fortnite and Fall Guys are similar in that they both fall into the popular battle royale genre, which has become popular itself since the massive success of Fortnite. Since its launch in 2017, Fortnite has gathered over 350 million players. This has attracted the attention of notable investors such as Sony, which invested $ 250 million in Epic last year. The company was last valued at $ 17.3 billion.
At the same time, Epic was embroiled in a tense legal battle with Apple over the iPhone manufacturer’s app store policies. Epic last year released a version of Fortnite on the Apple App Store that included a method for users to make in-app purchases without giving Apple the usual 30% discount. Apple later removed the Fortnite app, and Epic sued Apple later that day.