Epic Games has been hyping up its long-term vision for the metaverse over the past year, and one company that seems really confident about it becoming a game-changer is Sony. Following an initial investment of $200 million back in April 2021, the Japanese giant has now doubled down with an even bigger investment of $1 billion to help build and support Epic Games’ metaverse, according to a press release shared by the company today. The Unreal Engine and Fortnite maker is also getting another $1 billion from KIRKBI, the outfit behind the LEGO Group, giving Epic an additional $2 billion to rest on as it continues to develop its next-generation virtual space. It was just last week that the LEGO Group announced it would be entering into a long-term partnership with Epic Games to create a metaverse developed with the safety of children in mind.
“As a creative entertainment company, we are thrilled to invest in Epic to deepen our relationship in the metaverse field, a space where creators and users share their time.” said Kenichiro Yoshida, Chairman, President and CEO, Sony Group Corporation. “We are also confident that Epic’s expertise, including their powerful game engine, combined with Sony’s technologies, will accelerate our various efforts such as the development of new digital fan experiences in sports and our virtual production initiatives.”
“Epic Games is known for building playful and creative experiences and empowering creators large and small,” said Søren Thorup Sørensen, CEO, KIRKBI. “A proportion of our investments is focused on trends we believe will impact the future world that we and our children will live in. This investment will accelerate our engagement in the world of digital play, and we are pleased to be investing in Epic Games to support their continued growth journey, with a long-term focus toward the future metaverse.”
“As we reimagine the future of entertainment and play we need partners who share our vision. We have found this in our partnership with Sony and KIRKBI,” said Tim Sweeney, CEO and Founder, Epic Games. “This investment will accelerate our work to build the metaverse and create spaces where players can have fun with friends, brands can build creative and immersive experiences and creators can build a community and thrive.”
Sony and KIRKBI Invest in Epic Games to Build the Future of Digital Entertainment (Epic Games)
Today Epic Games announced a $2 billion round of funding to advance the company’s vision to build the metaverse and support its continued growth.
This round includes investments from existing investor Sony Group Corporation as well as KIRKBI, the family-owned holding and investment company behind The LEGO Group, with each party investing $1 billion respectively. All three companies highly value both creators and players, and aim to create new social entertainment exploring the connection between digital and physical worlds. Epic continues to have only a single class of common stock outstanding and remains controlled by its CEO and founder, Tim Sweeney.
Epic’s post-money equity valuation is $31.5 billion. The closing of the investment is subject to customary closing conditions, including regulatory approvals.
Discussion (5 replies)
Join Discussion →Ugh.......
So... it's... basically... secondlife but for gamers/kids? I mean that's what I'm getting here.
Good lord the potential for abuse is TITANIC. I don't see how this won't fail HORRIBLY.
Hard pass.
Look, if people want this, I'm not looking to stop them, as long as I don't get forced into using this shit.
I wasn't going to play anyhting Epic anyway, so it doesn't affect me...
I will literally quit my job if stuff like this becomes the norm at work like Microsoft seems to want to do.
The "metaverse" can blow me.
Never had a man said so many words that meant so little.
This announcement is a mashup of investor buzzwords. It literally means nothing.
The "metaverse" is nothing. It's a bigger scam than NFTs. Per definition every online game is already a metaverse. There is no difference.
It seems like a lot of corporations seem to link "Metaverse" with Virtual Reality. I don't really know why - but it seems to have that connection. Epic is the only one I don't really see an obvious cross-tie to that. To me - it seems more like any online community; I think that could include something VR based, but I don't think it's a requirement.
Facebook obviously has a lot invested in this - so much so that they bought Occulus and renamed their company to Meta.
Sony has their own VR system, with 2nd generation due out "anytime". They also at one point on the PS3 had the PS Home - which was pretty darn close to Second Life, which is honestly what I think of when I think "Metaverse" (along with basically every MMO ever).
So, I can't say I'm surprised. I don't think it's smart - "metaverse" is just another buzzword that will get overhyped into meaningless fluff, like W3, or AI (everything is AI now), or Turbo (everything has turbo boost now)