Sony and Lego invest $2 billion in Epic Games

The Fortnite publisher has made another round of funding, raising a whopping $2 billion. This money will be used to support Epic Games in its growth, as well as to continue building the Metaverse.

 2 billion dollar investment

Sony and Lego have together invested two billion dollars in Epic Games. As a result of this funding round, Epic Games’ stock valuation now stands at a whopping $31.5 billion. In this funding round, two investors in particular have contributed the bulk of the money and that is Sony Group Corporation, which is already an existing investor and KIRKBI. KIRKBI is a private holding and investment company that is supposed to take care of the LEGO brand.

Kenichiro Yoshida, Chairman, CEO of Sony Group Corporation had this to say about the investment, “As a creative entertainment company, we are excited to invest in Epic to deepen our relationships in the metaverse, a space where creators and users share their time. 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.”

KIRKBI CEO Søren Thorup Sørensen also commented on the investment in Epic, saying, “Epic Games is known for creating playful and creative experiences and supporting developers large and small. Part of our investment focuses on trends that we believe will impact the future world we and our children will live in. This investment will accelerate our commitment to the world of digital gaming, and we are excited to invest in Epic Games to support their continued growth, with a long-term focus on the future Metaverse.”

Metaverse for kids

Recently, Epic Games announced that they will be collaborating with Lego in the future. This will involve creating a place for children to play in the Metaverse. This collaboration is a good fit in that Lego and Epic Games complement each other in several ways. Epic not only knows about games and building games, but also brings a lot of experience and expertise when it comes to hosting parties and events. Lego and Epic Games have agreed on several rules that will apply to the construction of the children’s Metaverse.

In doing so, the Metaverse should be as safe and interesting as possible. Probably the most important rule is that the well-being and safety of children should come first. The privacy of the young users should be protected, but this overlaps with the safety point. Both parents and children should be allowed to have control in the Metaverse. How exactly these rules will be implemented and how everything will look in reality, or in the Metaverse, is not yet clear, but we will certainly find out over time.

Lego and Sony each contributed $1 billion with the last round of funding. This brings Epic Games’ valuation to nearly $31.5 billion. Media giant Tencent bought a nearly 40% stake in Epic Games 10 years ago for $330 million. At that time, Fortnite, Epic Games’ successful game, was not even on the market. With the current investment of $1 billion, Sony increases its stake in Epic Games to 4.6% of Epic Games. In total, Sony has put $1.45 billion into the company.