Epic is valued at $31.5 billion after the investment, the Cary, North Carolina-based company said Monday in aThe game company, among the most valuable startups in the U.S., is currently waging a costly legal battle with Apple Inc. and Alphabet Inc. over fees charged by their app stores. Epic runs its own app store, the Epic Games Store, and alleges that Apple and Alphabet’s Google engage in anti-competitive practices.
In addition to producing Fortnite, which has hundreds of millions of registered users, Epic Games also makes one of the most popular game engines, Unreal Engine. Last week, Epic released Unreal Engine 5. Sony, which works with Epic on the PlayStation and already owned a stake in the company, and Kirkbi, the family-owned holding company behind the Lego toy brand, each invested $1 billion in the new deal. “All three companies highly value both creators and players, and aim to create new social entertainment exploring the connection between digital and physical worlds,” according to the statement.it’s making a “digital experience for kids of all ages” with Lego.