Epic Games, the US-based video game developer backed by corporate investors Tencent, Walt Disney and Axiomatic, is close to raising $750m at a $17bn valuation, Bloomberg reported yesterday.
Investment management firms T. Rowe Price and Baillie Gifford are set to participate in the round along with existing backers including investment firm KKR, people familiar with the matter told Bloomberg.
Founded in 1991, Epic is best known for Fortnite, the immensely popular battle royale game that generated more than $4bn in revenue over the course of 2018 and 2019. Houseparty, the social mobile gaming app it bought in June 2019, has had its user numbers balloon in recent months during the coronavirus lockdown.
The news comes after reports in April this year suggesting Epic was in discussions to raise between $500m and $1bn. Its shareholders include talent agency owner Endeavor, which will likely sell about $100m of shares in the round, according to a Deadline report last month.
The company last received funding in late 2018 when it secured $1.25m from esports company Axiomatic, KKR, Iconiq Capital, Vulcan Capital, Smash Ventures, Kleiner Perkins and Lightspeed Venture Partners at a valuation of nearly $15bn.
Internet group Tencent paid $330m for a 40% stake in Epic 2012 while Endeavor is the owner of IMG, which retains the merchandising rights to Fortnite. Walt Disney invested when Epic joined its Disney Accelerator in 2017.
