Just earlier, we discussed how Amazon is to purchase Zoox, and now we will move from self-driving cars to games. Sony just made a $250 million investment in Epic Games, which operates the game Fortnite. Currently, the game is the largest globally, with more than 350 million accounts, and 2.5 billion connections. Fortnite brought $400 million in revenue this April only.
The deal gives Sony a minority stake of 1.4% in the game and software development, and publishing company, which has a valuation of $17.86 billion.
Both companies are looking to create extraordinary experiences for consumers and creators using Epic's social entertainment platform, and "Sony's leading portfolio of entertainment assets and technology." The focus will be on developing the companies' vision regarding real-time 3D experiences and implementing it further in games, films, and music. Moreover, the two companies are likely to create and release more Fortnite-like virtual experiences, which will resemble the in-game Travis Scott concert tour. However, the deal won’t force Epic to release only Sony exclusive titles.
Epic Games is no stranger to having important investors. In 2012, Tencent invested $330 million to have a 40% stake in the studio.
The market approved the deal, as Sony stock price went up 2.49% during yesterday’s session, and today is keeping the pace, with an increase of 2.19% in pre-market.
Sources: thestreet.com, businesswire.com
