Epic Games captures 1,800 million euros from Sony and Lego to finance its metaverse

by time news

Billionaire economic injection to the development of the metaverse. Sony and Kirkbi, the group that owns Legohave agreed to invest 1,000 million euros each (around 920 million euros per company) in Epic Gamesthe American video game company that developed the Fortnite. This company has specified in a statement that with these 2,000 million dollars (1,800 million euros) it will finance its growth and its plans to build the metaverse, this virtual universe where people are called to replicate their physical environment: work, consumption and relationships social included.

As detailed by Epic Games in a statement, the three companies highly value both digital creators and players, and their goal is to design a new form of social entertainment that explores the connection between the digital and physical worlds.

“As we reinvent the future of entertainment and gaming, we need partners who share our vision: we have found this in our agreement with Sony and Kirkbi”, explains the founder and CEO of the video game company, Tim Sweeney, who despite the magnitude of the round maintains control of the company. “This investment will accelerate our work to build the metaverse and create spaces where gamers can have fun with friends, brands are able to create creative and immersive experiences and creators can build a community and thrive,” he adds.

This operation, which has yet to be approved by the regulatory authorities, also implies for Epic Games to raise its market valuation to 31.5 billion dollars (approximately 28.9 billion euros). This is 10% more than the value granted by the last financing agreement, also led by Sony and which included BlackRock or the sovereign wealth fund of Singapore: just over 28,000 million dollars (26,000 million in euros).

Impact trends

“A portion of our investments is focused on trends that we believe will have an impact on the world of the future in which we and our children will live: This investment will accelerate our participation in the world of digital gaming”, justifies the CEO of Kirkbi, Søren Thorup Sørensen. Both companies had announced just last week a long-term collaboration to work on the future of the metaverse, a space they understand that will allow children to learn to be creators and play in a safe and positive environment.

“We are confident that Epic’s experience, including its powerful game engine, combined with Sony’s technologies, will accelerate our various efforts, such as the development of new digital experiences for sports fans and our virtual production initiatives,” he explains. in turn, the president and CEO of the Sony group, Kenichiro Yoshida.

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