Fortnite Creator Epic Games Valued at Nearly $15 Billion--Update

By Sarah E. Needleman and Katie Roof

Epic Games Inc., the creator of the smash-hit videogame "Fortnite," is valued at almost $15 billion as part of a major new investment round, according to people familiar with the matter.

The company Friday said it received an investment of about $1.25 billion. Epic didn't say whether it raised new capital or whether earlier holders sold existing shares. At least some of the investment is coming from sales of shares by existing holders, the people said.

Epic had no further comment on the investment.

The new investors include traditional venture-capital firms KKR and Lightspeed Venture Partners, as well aXiomatic, which owns the competitive-videogaming organization Team Liquid. Epic already counts China's Tencent Holdings Ltd. and Walt Disney Co. as investors.

"Fortnite" vaulted to the top of the more than $100 billion industry by putting a cartoonish spin on the classic shooter genre. In its "Battle Royale" mode, 100 players compete to be the last team or player standing, instead of players endlessly roaming a battlefield offing each other.

Epic released the mode free, but makes money by selling virtual costumes and dance moves for the game's characters. The company has raked in more than $1 billion in revenue from these so-called microtransactions over the past year, according to estimates from SuperData.

(More to Come)

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

October 26, 2018 14:27 ET (18:27 GMT)

Tencent (PK) (USOTC:TCEHY)
Historical Stock Chart
From Jun 2024 to Jul 2024