Epic Raises $2 Billion in Funding For its Metaverse Ambitions

Many entities around the globe are planning to make a metaverse environment and buy assets in it. In this regard, Epic’s ambitions to create a metaverse just got a big boost, as the Fortnite developer announced a $2 billion round of funding yesterday, which would be utilized “to promote the firm’s goal to build the metaverse and support its continued expansion.”

Epic Raises $2 Billion in Funding For its Metaverse Ambitions

Sony, which has previously invested in Epic, and KIRKBI, an investment organization run by the Kirk Kristiansen family, who founded the Lego Group, are among the investors. Epic and Lego just announced a partnership to create a family-friendly approach on the metaverse, albeit little information was provided. According to a news statement, Sony and KIRKBI each contributed $1 billion in the last round of funding.

Epic has been a huge proponent of the idea of a connected virtual world through platforms such as Fortnite and its Unreal Engine game-making toolkit. (The metaverse idea was also mentioned in the Epic v. Apple lawsuit last year.) Sony, on the other hand, made a significant push into vast virtual worlds earlier this year when it acquired Destiny developer Bungie.

In a statement, Epic CEO Tim Sweeney stated,

This investment will expedite our work to build the metaverse and create spaces where gamers can have fun with friends, brands can build innovative and immersive experiences, and creators can build a community and thrive.

Right now, the metaverse is merely just a concept in the minds of tech CEOs, though Fortnite is arguably the closest thing we have to that vision right now, thanks to virtual events like concerts and a slew of pop culture tie-ins ranging from Marvel characters to professional athletes to, most recently, the late artist Jean-Michel Basquiat.

Check out? Epic’s Unreal Engine 5 to take you to the gaming;s Metaverse