Epic Games, Inc. is an American
video game
Video games, also known as computer games, are electronic games that involves interaction with a user interface or input device such as a joystick, controller, keyboard, or motion sensing device to generate visual feedback. This fee ...
and
software developer and
publisher
Publishing is the activity of making information, literature, music, software and other content available to the public for sale or for free. Traditionally, the term refers to the creation and distribution of printed works, such as books, newsp ...
based in
Cary, North Carolina
Cary is a town in Wake and Chatham counties in the U.S. state of North Carolina and is part of the Raleigh–Cary, NC Metropolitan Statistical Area. According to the 2020 Census, its population was 174,721, making it the seventh largest mun ...
. The company was founded by
Tim Sweeney as Potomac Computer Systems in 1991, originally located in his parents' house in
Potomac, Maryland
Potomac () is a census-designated place (CDP) in Montgomery County, Maryland, United States, named after the nearby Potomac River. Potomac is the seventh most educated small town in America, based on percentage of residents with postsecondary deg ...
. Following its first commercial video game release, ''
ZZT'' (1991), the company became Epic MegaGames, Inc. in early 1992 and brought on
Mark Rein, who has been its
vice president
A vice president, also director in British English, is an officer in government or business who is below the president (chief executive officer) in rank. It can also refer to executive vice presidents, signifying that the vice president is on ...
since. After moving the headquarters to Cary in 1999, the studio changed its name to Epic Games.
Epic Games develops
Unreal Engine
Unreal Engine (UE) is a 3D computer graphics game engine developed by Epic Games, first showcased in the 1998 first-person shooter game '' Unreal''. Initially developed for PC first-person shooters, it has since been used in a variety of g ...
, a commercially available
game engine which also powers their internally developed video games, such as ''
Fortnite
''Fortnite'' is an online video game developed by Epic Games and released in 2017. It is available in three distinct game mode versions that otherwise share the same general gameplay and game engine: ''Fortnite Battle Royale'', a free-to- ...
'' and the ''
Unreal
Unreal may refer to:
Books and TV
* ''Unreal'' (short story collection), a 1985 book of short stories by Paul Jennings
* ''Unreal'' (TV series), a 2015 television drama series on Lifetime
Computing and games
* ''Unreal'' (video game series), ...
'', ''
Gears of War'' and ''
Infinity Blade
''Infinity Blade'' is an action role-playing game developed by Chair Entertainment and Epic Games and released through the Apple App Store on December 9, 2010. It was the first iOS video game to run on the Unreal Engine. In the game, the unname ...
'' series. In 2014, Unreal Engine was named the "most successful videogame engine" by ''
Guinness World Records
''Guinness World Records'', known from its inception in 1955 until 1999 as ''The Guinness Book of Records'' and in previous United States editions as ''The Guinness Book of World Records'', is a reference book published annually, listing world ...
''.
Epic Games owns the game developers
Chair Entertainment
Chair Entertainment Group, LLC (stylized as ChAIR) is an American video game developer based in Salt Lake City. The company was acquired by Epic Games in 2008.
History
Chair Entertainment was formed in 2005 by Donald Mustard and Geremy Mustard ...
,
Psyonix
Psyonix LLC is an American video game developer based in San Diego. Founded in 2000 by Dave Hagewood, the company is best known for its 2015 game ''Rocket League''. In May 2019, Psyonix was acquired by Epic Games.
History
Psyonix was founded ...
,
Mediatonic
Mediatonic Limited is a British video game developer based in London. The company was founded in September 2005 by Brunel University students Dave Bailey and Paul Croft, releasing their first game, ''Snowman Salvage'' in December that year. In ...
and
Harmonix
Harmonix Music Systems, Inc., doing business as Harmonix, is an American video game developer company based in Boston, Massachusetts. The company was established in May 1995 by Alex Rigopulos and Eran Egozy. Harmonix is perhaps best known as bei ...
, as well as cloud-based software developer
Cloudgine
Cloudgine Limited was a British video game developer based in Edinburgh. Founded in 2012 by Dave Jones, it focuses on cloud technologies for video games. It was acquired by Epic Games in 2018 and integrated.
History
Cloudgine was founded ...
, and operates studios in
Seattle
Seattle ( ) is a seaport city on the West Coast of the United States. It is the seat of King County, Washington. With a 2020 population of 737,015, it is the largest city in both the state of Washington and the Pacific Northwest regio ...
,
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...
,
Berlin
Berlin ( , ) is the capital and List of cities in Germany by population, largest city of Germany by both area and population. Its 3.7 million inhabitants make it the European Union's List of cities in the European Union by population within ci ...
,
Yokohama
is the second-largest city in Japan by population and the most populous municipality of Japan. It is the capital city and the most populous city in Kanagawa Prefecture, with a 2020 population of 3.8 million. It lies on Tokyo Bay, south of T ...
and
Seoul
Seoul (; ; ), officially known as the Seoul Special City, is the capital and largest metropolis of South Korea.Before 1972, Seoul was the ''de jure'' capital of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (North Korea) as stated iArticle 103 of ...
. While Sweeney remains the controlling shareholder,
Tencent
Tencent Holdings Ltd. () is a Chinese multinational technology and entertainment conglomerate and holding company headquartered in Shenzhen. It is one of the highest grossing multimedia companies in the world based on revenue. It is also the wo ...
acquired a 48.4% outstanding stake, equating to 40% of total Epic, in the company in 2012, as part of an agreement aimed at moving Epic towards a
games as a service
In the video game industry, games as a service (GaaS) represents providing video games or game content on a continuing revenue model, similar to software as a service. Games as a service are ways to monetize video games either after their initi ...
model. Following the release of the popular ''
Fortnite Battle Royale
''Fortnite Battle Royale'' is a free-to-play battle royale video game developed and published by Epic Games. It is a companion game to '' Fortnite: Save the World'', a cooperative survival game with construction elements. It was initially ...
'' in 2017, the company gained additional investments that enabled to expand its Unreal Engine offerings, establish
esport
Esports, short for electronic sports, is a form of competition using video games. Esports often takes the form of organized, multiplayer video game competitions, particularly between professional players, individually or as teams. Although orga ...
events around ''Fortnite'', and launch the
Epic Games Store
The Epic Games Store is a digital video game storefront for Microsoft Windows and macOS, operated by Epic Games. It launched in December 2018 as both a website and a standalone launcher, of which the latter is required to download and play gam ...
. As of April 2022, the company has a equity valuation.
On August 13, 2020, Epic released a version of ''Fortnite'' that included a permanent discount on V-bucks across all platforms, but for those on iOS and Android devices, only if they purchased directly through Epic, bypassing Apple and Google's storefronts. Both
Apple
An apple is an edible fruit produced by an apple tree (''Malus domestica''). Apple trees are cultivated worldwide and are the most widely grown species in the genus ''Malus''. The tree originated in Central Asia, where its wild ancestor, ' ...
and
Google
Google LLC () is an American Multinational corporation, multinational technology company focusing on Search Engine, search engine technology, online advertising, cloud computing, software, computer software, quantum computing, e-commerce, ar ...
immediately delisted the game for violating the storefronts' terms of service by including their own storefront, which led Epic to
file lawsuits against both companies the same day, accusing them of antitrust behavior in how they operate their app stores.
History
Potomac Computer Systems (1991–1992)
Potomac Computer Systems was founded by
Tim Sweeney in 1991.
At the time, Sweeney was studying
mechanical engineering
Mechanical engineering is the study of physical machines that may involve force and movement. It is an engineering branch that combines engineering physics and mathematics principles with materials science, to design, analyze, manufacture, an ...
and living in a dorm at the
University of Maryland
The University of Maryland, College Park (University of Maryland, UMD, or simply Maryland) is a public land-grant research university in College Park, Maryland. Founded in 1856, UMD is the flagship institution of the University System of M ...
. He frequently visited his parents, who lived in nearby
Potomac, Maryland
Potomac () is a census-designated place (CDP) in Montgomery County, Maryland, United States, named after the nearby Potomac River. Potomac is the seventh most educated small town in America, based on percentage of residents with postsecondary deg ...
, where his
personal computer
A personal computer (PC) is a multi-purpose microcomputer whose size, capabilities, and price make it feasible for individual use. Personal computers are intended to be operated directly by an end user, rather than by a computer expert or tec ...
, used for both work and leisure, was situated.
Out of this location, Sweeney started Potomac Computer Systems as a
computer consulting business, but later figured that it would be too much work he would have to put into keeping the business stable, and scrapped the idea.
After finishing his game ''
ZZT'', Sweeney opted to re-use the Potomac Computer Systems name to release the game to the public in January 1991.
It was only with the unexpected success of ''ZZT'', caused in most part by the easy modifiability of the game using Sweeney's custom ZZT-oop programming language,
that made Sweeney consider turning Potomac Computer Systems into a video game company.
''ZZT'' was sold through
bulletin board systems, while all orders were fulfilled by Sweeney's father, Paul Sweeney.
The game sold several thousand copies as of May 2009, and Paul Sweeney still lived at the former Potomac Computer Systems address at the time, fulfilling all orders that eventually came by mail.
The final copy of ''ZZT'' was shipped by Paul Sweeney in November 2013.
Epic MegaGames (1992–1999)
![Tim sweeney GDCA 2017](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/3/37/Tim_sweeney_GDCA_2017.jpg)
In early 1992, Sweeney found himself and his new-found video game company in a business where larger studios, such as
Apogee Software
3D Realms Entertainment ApS is a video game publisher based in Aalborg, Denmark. Scott Miller founded the company in his parents' home in Garland, Texas, in 1987 as Apogee Software Productions to release his game '' Kingdom of Kroz''. In the ...
and
id Software
id Software LLC () is an American video game developer based in Richardson, Texas. It was founded on February 1, 1991, by four members of the computer company Softdisk: game programmer, programmers John Carmack and John Romero, game designer T ...
, were dominant, and he had to find a more serious name for his.
As such, Sweeney came up with "Epic MegaGames", a name which incorporated "Epic" and "Mega" to make it sound like it represented a fairly large company (such as Apogee Software), although he was its only employee.
Sweeney soon underwent searching for a business partner, and eventually caught up with
Mark Rein, who previously quit his job at id Software and moved to
Toronto
Toronto ( ; or ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Ontario. With a recorded population of 2,794,356 in 2021, it is the most populous city in Canada and the fourth most populous city in North America. The city is the anch ...
,
Ontario
Ontario ( ; ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada.Ontario is located in the geographic eastern half of Canada, but it has historically and politically been considered to be part of Central Canada. Located in Central C ...
.
Rein worked remotely from Toronto, and primarily handled sales, marketing and publishing deals; business development that Sweeney found to have significantly contributed to the company's growth.
Some time this season, the company soon had 20 employees consisting of programmers, artists, designers and composers.
Among them was the 17-year old
Cliff Bleszinski
Cliff Bleszinski (; born February 12, 1975), popularly known as CliffyB, is an American video game designer, known for his work in the development of the '' Unreal'' and ''Gears of War'' series. After working at Epic Games from 1992 to 2012, he ...
, who joined the company after submitting his game ''Dare to Dream'' to Sweeney.
The following year, they had over 30 employees.
In 1996, Epic MegaGames produced a shareware isometric shooter called ''
Fire Fight
''Fire Fight'' is an isometric shoot 'em up video game developed by Polish studio Chaos Works, produced by Epic MegaGames and published by Electronic Arts for Windows.
Gameplay
''Fire Fight'' is a two-dimensional top-down shooter.
Reception
' ...
'', developed by Polish studio Chaos Works. It was published by
Electronic Arts
Electronic Arts Inc. (EA) is an American video game company headquartered in Redwood City, California. Founded in May 1982 by Apple employee Trip Hawkins, the company was a pioneer of the early home computer game industry and promoted the ...
. By 1997, Epic MegaGames had 50 people working for them worldwide.
In 1998, Epic MegaGames released ''
Unreal
Unreal may refer to:
Books and TV
* ''Unreal'' (short story collection), a 1985 book of short stories by Paul Jennings
* ''Unreal'' (TV series), a 2015 television drama series on Lifetime
Computing and games
* ''Unreal'' (video game series), ...
'', a
3D first-person shooter
First-person shooter (FPS) is a sub-genre of shooter video games centered on gun and other weapon-based combat in a first-person perspective, with the player experiencing the action through the eyes of the protagonist and controlling the p ...
co-developed with
Digital Extremes
Digital Extremes is a Canadian video game developer founded in 1993 by James Schmalz. They are best known for creating ''Warframe'', a free-to-play cooperative online action game, and co-creating Epic Games' ''Unreal'' series of games. Digital ...
, which expanded into a series of
''Unreal'' games. The company also began to license the core technology, the
Unreal Engine
Unreal Engine (UE) is a 3D computer graphics game engine developed by Epic Games, first showcased in the 1998 first-person shooter game '' Unreal''. Initially developed for PC first-person shooters, it has since been used in a variety of g ...
, to other game developers.
Epic Games (1999–present)
''Unreal'' and personal computer games (1999–2006)
In February 1999, Epic MegaGames announced that they had moved their headquarters to a new location in
Cary, North Carolina
Cary is a town in Wake and Chatham counties in the U.S. state of North Carolina and is part of the Raleigh–Cary, NC Metropolitan Statistical Area. According to the 2020 Census, its population was 174,721, making it the seventh largest mun ...
, and would henceforth be known as simply Epic Games.
Rein explained that "''Unreal'' was first created by developers who were scattered across the world, eventually, the team came together to finish the game and that's when the real magic started. The move to North Carolina centralizes Epic, bringing all of the company's talented developers under one roof."
Furthermore, Sweeney stated that the "Mega" part of the name was dropped because they no longer wanted to pretend to be a big company, as was the original intention of the name when it was a one-man team.
The follow-up game, ''
Unreal Tournament
''Unreal Tournament'' is a first-person arena shooter video game developed by Epic Games and Digital Extremes. The second installment in the '' Unreal'' series, it was first published by GT Interactive in 1999 for Microsoft Windows, and late ...
'', shipped to critical acclaim the same year, at which point the studio had 13 employees.
The company launched the
Make Something Unreal Make Something Unreal, also known as $1,000,000 Make Something Unreal Contest and Make Something Unreal Live, is a series of video game development competitions organised by Epic Games which began in 2004, with subsequent competitions in 2008, 2012 ...
competition in 2004, aiming to reward video game developers who create
mods using the
Unreal game engine.
Tripwire Interactive
Tripwire Interactive LLC is an American video game developer and publisher based in Roswell, Georgia.
History
Tripwire was co-founded by John Gibson and Alan Wilson with support by members of the international team that created ''Unreal Tour ...
won US$80,000 in cash and computer hardware prizes over the course of the contest in the first contest in 2004.
''Gears of War'' and console games (2006–2012)
Around 2006, the personal computer video game market was struggling with
copyright infringement
Copyright infringement (at times referred to as piracy) is the use of works protected by copyright without permission for a usage where such permission is required, thereby infringing certain exclusive rights granted to the copyright holder, s ...
in the form of software piracy, and it became difficult to make single-player games, elements which had been part of Epic's business model to that point. The company decided to shift focus into developing on console systems, a move which Sweeney called the start of the third major iteration of the company, "Epic 3.0".
In 2006, Epic released the
Xbox 360
The Xbox 360 is a home video game console developed by Microsoft. As the successor to the original Xbox, it is the second console in the Xbox series. It competed with Sony's PlayStation 3 and Nintendo's Wii as part of the seventh generati ...
shooter ''
Gears of War'', which became a commercial success for the company, grossing about off a budget.
A year later, the company released ''
Unreal Tournament 3'' for PC and acquired a majority share in
People Can Fly.
In 2008, Epic Games released ''
Gears of War 2
''Gears of War 2'' is a third-person shooter video game developed by Epic Games and published by Microsoft Game Studios for the Xbox 360. It is the second installment of the ''Gears of War'' series, with lead design by Cliff Bleszinski. The ga ...
'', selling over three million copies within the first month of its release.
Epic Games released on September 1, 2010
Epic Citadel as a
tech demo
A technology demonstration (or tech demo), also known as demonstrator model, is a prototype, rough example or an otherwise incomplete version of a conceivable product or future system, put together as proof of concept with the primary purpose of s ...
to demonstrate the
Unreal Engine 3
Unreal Engine (UE) is a 3D computer graphics game engine developed by Epic Games, first showcased in the 1998 first-person shooter game '' Unreal''. Initially developed for PC first-person shooters, it has since been used in a variety of genre ...
running on
Apple
An apple is an edible fruit produced by an apple tree (''Malus domestica''). Apple trees are cultivated worldwide and are the most widely grown species in the genus ''Malus''. The tree originated in Central Asia, where its wild ancestor, ' ...
iOS
iOS (formerly iPhone OS) is a mobile operating system created and developed by Apple Inc. exclusively for its hardware. It is the operating system that powers many of the company's mobile devices, including the iPhone; the term also include ...
, within
Adobe Flash Player
Adobe Flash Player (known in Internet Explorer, Firefox, and Google Chrome as Shockwave Flash) is computer software for viewing multimedia contents, executing rich Internet applications, and streaming audio and video content created on the ...
Stage3D
Stage3D ( codenamed ''Molehill'') is an Adobe Flash Player API for rendering interactive 3D graphics with GPU-acceleration, within Flash games and applications. Flash Player or AIR applications written in ActionScript 3 may use Stage3D to rend ...
and using
HTML5
HTML5 is a markup language used for structuring and presenting content on the World Wide Web. It is the fifth and final major HTML version that is a World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) recommendation. The current specification is known as the HTML ...
WebGL
WebGL (Short for Web Graphics Library) is a JavaScript API for rendering interactive 2D and 3D graphics within any compatible web browser without the use of plug-ins. WebGL is fully integrated with other web standards, allowing GPU-accelera ...
technologies. It was also released for
Android on January 29, 2013. Epic Games worked on an
iOS
iOS (formerly iPhone OS) is a mobile operating system created and developed by Apple Inc. exclusively for its hardware. It is the operating system that powers many of the company's mobile devices, including the iPhone; the term also include ...
game, ''
Infinity Blade
''Infinity Blade'' is an action role-playing game developed by Chair Entertainment and Epic Games and released through the Apple App Store on December 9, 2010. It was the first iOS video game to run on the Unreal Engine. In the game, the unname ...
'', which was released on December 9, 2010. The third game in the series, ''
Gears of War 3
''Gears of War 3'' is a third-person shooter video game developed by Epic Games and published by Xbox Game Studios, Microsoft Studios for the Xbox 360. It is the third installment of the Gears of War, ''Gears of War'' series. Originally due for re ...
'', came out in 2011.
In 2011, Epic's subsidiary
Titan Studios was dissolved. At the 2011
Spike Video Game Awards
The Spike Video Game Awards (in short VGAs, known as the VGX for the final show) was an annual award show hosted by American television network Spike from 2003 to 2013 that recognized the best computer and video games of the year. Produced by ...
, Epic Games announced their new game ''
Fortnite
''Fortnite'' is an online video game developed by Epic Games and released in 2017. It is available in three distinct game mode versions that otherwise share the same general gameplay and game engine: ''Fortnite Battle Royale'', a free-to- ...
''.
In June 2012, Epic announced that it is opening up a new studio, Epic Baltimore, made up of members of
38 Studios
38 Studios, LLC, formerly Green Monster Games, LLC, was an American entertainment and IP development company founded in 2006 by Major League Baseball player Curt Schilling and named for his jersey number. Originally based in Massachusetts, the co ...
'
Big Huge Games
Big Huge Games, Inc. is an American video game developer based in Timonium, Maryland since 2000, known first for real-time strategy games such as ''Rise of Nations'', later for the console RPG '' Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning'', and more recently ...
. Epic Baltimore was renamed to Impossible Studios in August 2012. However, the studio ended up closing its doors in February 2013.
Epic fully acquired People Can Fly in August 2012, rebranding them as Epic Games Poland in November 2013 as they began work on ''Fortnite'' alongside Epic. Epic alongside People Can Fly made one last game in the ''Gears of War'' series that served as a prequel to the other games, ''
Gears of War: Judgement'', which was released in 2013. At this point, Epic had considered developing a fourth main title for ''Gears of War'', but estimated that its budget would be at least .
Additionally, they had suggested the idea of a multiplayer-only version of ''Gears of War'' that featured improved versions of maps based on user feedback, similar to the concept behind ''Unreal Tournament'', but Microsoft rejected this idea. Epic recognized the troubles of being held to the business objectives of a publisher, and began to shift the company again.
Games as a service and Tencent shareholding (2012–2018)
Coupled with their desire to move away from being beholden to a publisher, Epic Games observed that the video game industry was shifting to a
games-as-a-service model (GaaS). Sweeney stated "There was an increasing realization that the old model wasn't working anymore and that the new model was looking increasingly like the way to go."
In an attempt to gain more GaaS experience, they made an agreement with Chinese
Tencent
Tencent Holdings Ltd. () is a Chinese multinational technology and entertainment conglomerate and holding company headquartered in Shenzhen. It is one of the highest grossing multimedia companies in the world based on revenue. It is also the wo ...
, who had several games under their banner (including
Riot Games' ''
League of Legends
''League of Legends'' (''LoL''), commonly referred to as ''League'', is a 2009 multiplayer online battle arena video game developed and published by Riot Games. Inspired by '' Defense of the Ancients'', a custom map for ''Warcraft III'', ...
'') operating successfully as games as a service.
In exchange for Tencent's help, Tencent acquired approximately 48.4% of Epic then issued share capital, equating to 40% of total Epic – inclusive of both stock and employee stock options, for $330 million in June 2012. Tencent Holdings has the right to nominate directors to the board of Epic Games and thus counts as an associate of the Group.
However, Sweeney stated that Tencent otherwise has very little control on the creative output of Epic Games.
Sweeney considered the partial acquisition by Tencent as the start of "Epic 4.0", the fourth major iteration of the company, allowing the company to be more agile in the video game marketplace.
Around this point, Epic had about 200 employees.
A number of high-profile staff left the company months after the Tencent deal was announced for various reasons. Some notable departures included:
*
Cliff Bleszinski
Cliff Bleszinski (; born February 12, 1975), popularly known as CliffyB, is an American video game designer, known for his work in the development of the '' Unreal'' and ''Gears of War'' series. After working at Epic Games from 1992 to 2012, he ...
, then the design director, announced he was leaving Epic Games in October 2012 after 20 years with the company. His official reason was "It's time for a much needed break". Bleszinski later stated that he had become "jaded" about the gaming industry in the lead-up to Tencent's involvement. After Tencent's investment, Bleszinski attempted to renegotiate his contract, but failed to come to terms, making him think about retirement instead. He opted to stop coming into work, spending his time at his beach house, eventually leading Sweeney to come down and have a heart-to-heart discussion with Bleszinski on the new direction Epic was going, and asking him to make a firm decision regarding his commitment to Epic. Bleszinski opted to write his resignation letter the next day.
After about two years, Bleszinski started
Boss Key Productions
Boss Key Productions, Inc. was an American video game developer based in Raleigh, North Carolina. Founded in April 2014 by Cliff Bleszinski and Arjan Brussee, formerly of Epic Games, the company developed '' LawBreakers'' (2017) and ''Radical ...
in 2014.
* President
Mike Capps announced his retirement in December 2013, and cited the reasons as the arrival of a baby boy he was having with his wife and his plans to be a
stay-at-home dad. He subsequently announced his departure of his advisory role as well as his affiliation with the company in March 2013.
*
Rod Fergusson
Rod Fergusson is a Canadian video game producer, best known for overseeing the development of the '' Gears of War'' franchise, originally at Epic Games and then as head of The Coalition. More recently, Fergusson moved over to Blizzard Entertai ...
, who had been a lead developer for the ''Gears of War'' series, left Epic in August 2012. Fergusson stated that he had seen the direction that the Tencent acquisition would have taken the company, and was not interested in the free-to-play style of games but instead wanted to continue developing a "AAA, big-narrative, big-story, big-impact game". Fergusson briefly joined
Irrational Games
Irrational Games (known as 2K Boston between 2007 and 2009) was an American video game developer founded in 1997 by three former employees of Looking Glass Studios: Ken Levine, Jonathan Chey, and Robert Fermier. Take-Two Interactive acquired t ...
, owned by
2K Games
2K is an American video game publisher based in Novato, California. 2K was founded under Take-Two Interactive in January 2005 through the 2K Games and 2K Sports labels, following Take-Two Interactive's acquisition of Visual Concepts that same ...
, to help complete ''
BioShock Infinite
''BioShock Infinite'' is a first-person shooter video game developed by Irrational Games and published by 2K Games. The third installment in the BioShock (series), ''BioShock'' series, ''Infinite'' was released worldwide for the Microsoft Window ...
''. While there, Fergusson talked with 2K about potentially continuing the ''Gears of War'' series, leading to talks between 2K Games, Epic, and Microsoft.
As a result, Microsoft acquired the rights to ''Gears of War'' on January 27, 2014, eventually assigned those to
Microsoft Game Studios; Fergusson moved to Black Tusk Studios, owned by Microsoft Game Studios, to take on lead development for a new ''Gears'' title, with the studio being rebranded as
The Coalition. The first game since the acquisition, ''
Gears of War 4
''Gears of War 4'' is a 2016 third-person shooter video game developed by The Coalition and published by Microsoft Studios for Windows and Xbox One. It is the fourth main installment in the ''Gears of War'' series, and the first mainline entry n ...
'', was released in October 2016.
*
Adrian Chmielarz, the founder of People Can Fly and who joined Epic when his studio was acquired earlier in 2012, decided to leave after Tencent's acquisition, stating that he and other former People Can Fly members did not believe the free-to-play, games as a service direction fit their own personal vision or direction they wanted to go. Chmielarz and these others left Epic in late 2012 to form
The Astronauts
''The Astronauts'' ( Polish: ''Astronauci'') is the first science fiction novel by Polish writer Stanisław Lem published as a book, in 1951.
To write the novel, Lem received advance payment from publishing house Czytelnik (Warsaw). The book b ...
.
* Lee Perry, a lead designer on both ''Unreal'' and ''Gears of War'' series, who felt that Epic has started to grow too large to maintain a role as an eccentric game developer. Coupled with the studio's need for more management to support the games as a service model, Perry felt that their creative freedom would become limited. He and five other senior people left Epic to form a new studio, Bitmonster.
Epic continued on its goal to deliver games as a service following these departures. ''Fortnite'' was to serve as their testbed for living games, but with the shifts in staff, as well as shifting its engine from Unreal Engine 3 to 4, its release suffered some setback. Epic started additional projects; the free-to-play and community-developed ''
Unreal Tournament
''Unreal Tournament'' is a first-person arena shooter video game developed by Epic Games and Digital Extremes. The second installment in the '' Unreal'' series, it was first published by GT Interactive in 1999 for Microsoft Windows, and late ...
'', first announced in 2014, and the free-to-play
multiplayer online battle arena
Multiplayer online battle arena (MOBA) is a subgenre of strategy video games in which two teams of players compete against each other on a predefined battlefield. Each player controls a single character with a set of distinctive abilities that ...
game ''
Paragon
Paragon may refer to:
Places
*Paragon, Indiana, a town in the United States
* Paragon, Nebraska, former community in the United States
*The Paragon, Bath, a Georgian street in the Walcot area of Bath
* The Paragon, Blackheath, London, built by Mi ...
'', launched in 2016 for
Microsoft Windows and
PlayStation 4. Epic also released a remastered version of ''Shadow Complex'' for newer consoles and computers in 2015, and their first foray into
virtual reality
Virtual reality (VR) is a simulated experience that employs pose tracking and 3D near-eye displays to give the user an immersive feel of a virtual world. Applications of virtual reality include entertainment (particularly video games), e ...
with the release of ''
Robo Recall
''Robo Recall'' is a virtual reality first-person shooter game developed and published by Epic Games for Oculus Rift and Oculus Quest platforms. The game was released for the Oculus Rift on March 1, 2017, and an Oculus Quest version titled ''Robo ...
'' for the
Oculus Rift
Oculus Rift is a discontinued line of virtual reality headsets developed and manufactured by Oculus VR, a division of Meta Platforms, released on March 28, 2016.
In 2012 Oculus initiated a Kickstarter campaign to fund the Rift's development, af ...
.
The investment infusion from Tencent allowed Epic Games to relicense the Unreal Engine 4 engine in March 2015 to be free for all users to develop with, with Epic taking 5% royalties on games developed with the engine.
In June 2015, Epic agreed to allow Epic Games Poland's departure from the company and sold its shares in the studio; the studio reverted to their former name, People Can Fly. The ''
Bulletstorm
''Bulletstorm'' is a 2011 first-person shooter game developed by People Can Fly and Epic Games and published by Electronic Arts (EA). The video game is distinguished by its system of rewarding players with "skillpoints" for performing increasin ...
'' IP was retained by People Can Fly who has since launched a remastered version called ''
Bulletstorm: Full Clip Edition'' on April 7, 2017, published by
Gearbox Software
Gearbox Software is an American video game development company based in Frisco, Texas. It was established as a limited liability company in February 1999 by five developers formerly of Rebel Boat Rocker. Randy Pitchford, one of the founders, s ...
.
''Fortnite'' success (2018–present)
![Fortnite at E3 2018 (42781993231)](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/2/28/Fortnite_at_E3_2018_%2842781993231%29.jpg)
By July 2017, ''Fortnite'' was finally in a state for public play. Epic launched the title through a paid
early access
Early access, also known as alpha access, alpha founding, paid alpha, or game preview, is a funding model in the video game industry by which consumers can purchase and play a game in the various pre-release development cycles, such as pre-alph ...
then, with a full
free-to-play
Free-to-play (F2P or FtP) video games are games that give players access to a significant portion of their content without paying or do not require paying to continue playing. Free-to-play is distinct from traditional commercial software, which ...
release expected in 2018. Following on the popularity of ''
PlayerUnknown's Battlegrounds
''PUBG: Battlegrounds'' (previously known as ''PlayerUnknown's Battlegrounds'') is a battle royale game developed by PUBG Studios and published by Krafton. The game, which was inspired by the Japanese film '' Battle Royale'' (2000), is based ...
'', a
battle royale game
A battle royale game is an online multiplayer video game genre that blends last-man-standing gameplay with the survival, exploration and scavenging elements of a survival game. Battle royale games involve dozens to hundreds of players, who st ...
released earlier in 2017, Epic developed a variant of ''Fortnite'' called ''
Fortnite Battle Royale
''Fortnite Battle Royale'' is a free-to-play battle royale video game developed and published by Epic Games. It is a companion game to '' Fortnite: Save the World'', a cooperative survival game with construction elements. It was initially ...
'', which was released in September 2017 as a free-to-play title across computer, console, and mobile platforms. ''Fortnite Battle Royale'' quickly gained an audience, amassing over 125 million players by May 2018 with estimates of having earned over by July 2018 through microtransactions, including its
battle pass
In the video game industry, a battle pass is a type of monetization approach that provides additional content for a game usually through a tiered system, rewarding the player with in-game items for playing the game and completing specific chal ...
system. Epic Games, which had been valued at around at the time of Tencent's acquisition, was estimated to be worth in July 2018 due to ''Fortnite Battle Royale'', and expected to surpass by the end of 2018 with projected growth of the game.
Player count continued to expand when Epic broke new ground by convincing Sony to change its stance on
cross-platform play
In video games with online gaming functionality, also called cross-compatible play, cross-platform play, crossplay, or cross-play describes the ability of players using different video game hardware to play with each other simultaneously. It is c ...
allowing players on any device to compete with each other in ''Fortnite Battle Royale''. ''Fortnite'' has drawn nearly 250 million players as of March 2019.
''Fortnite''s commercial success enabled Epic to make several changes to its other product offerings. In July 2018, it reduced the revenue cut that it took for assets sold on the Unreal Engine Marketplace from 30% to 12%. Epic launched the
Epic Games Store
The Epic Games Store is a digital video game storefront for Microsoft Windows and macOS, operated by Epic Games. It launched in December 2018 as both a website and a standalone launcher, of which the latter is required to download and play gam ...
digital storefront to compete with services like
Steam and
GOG.com
GOG.com (formerly Good Old Games) is a digital distribution platform for video games and films. It is operated by GOG sp. z o.o., a wholly owned subsidiary of CD Projekt based in Warsaw, Poland. GOG.com delivers DRM-free video games through it ...
, not only taking a 12% cut of revenue compared to the industry standard of 30%, but also eliminated the 5% cut for games using the Unreal engine sold via the storefront. However the company also refocused its development efforts to provide more support for Unreal and ''Fortnite'' by ending support for ''Paragon'' and ''Unreal Tournament''.
The financial success of ''Fortnite'' brought additional investment into Epic Games. Epic Games was one of eleven companies selected to be part of the
Disney
The Walt Disney Company, commonly known as Disney (), is an American multinational mass media and entertainment conglomerate headquartered at the Walt Disney Studios complex in Burbank, California. Disney was originally founded on October ...
Accelerator program in 2017, providing Epic equity investment and access to some of Disney's executives, and potential opportunity to work with Disney in the future. Disney had selected both Epic and
aXiomatic
An axiom, postulate, or assumption is a statement that is taken to be true, to serve as a premise or starting point for further reasoning and arguments. The word comes from the Ancient Greek word (), meaning 'that which is thought worthy or ...
as potential leads in the growing esports arena.
Epic's has used its windfall to support its products. In January 2019, following a dispute between
Improbable and
Unity Technologies
Unity Software Inc. ( doing business as Unity Technologies) is a video game software development company based in San Francisco. It was founded in Denmark in 2004 as Over the Edge Entertainment (OTEE) and changed its name in 2007. Unity Technol ...
over changes to the acceptable uses of the Unity game engine, Epic announced it was partnering with Improbable to launch a fund to help bring developers they believe affected by these changes towards solutions that are more open and would have fewer service compatibilities. Epic launched a prize pool in February 2019 for ''Fortnite''-related esports activities that it plans to run from 2019 onward. To expand its esports initiatives, Epic Games hired Nate Nanzer from
Blizzard Entertainment
Blizzard Entertainment, Inc. is an American video game developer and publisher based in Irvine, California. A subsidiary of Activision Blizzard, the company was founded on February 8, 1991, under the name Silicon & Synapse, Inc. by three gradu ...
and their commissioner of the
Overwatch League
The Overwatch League (OWL) is a professional esports league for the video game ''Overwatch'', produced by its developer, Blizzard Entertainment. The Overwatch League follows the model of other traditional North American professional sporting le ...
in May 2019. At the 2019
Game Developers Conference
The Game Developers Conference (GDC) is an annual conference for video game developers. The event includes an expo, networking events, and awards shows like the Game Developers Choice Awards and Independent Games Festival, and a variety of tuto ...
, Epic announced it was launching a MegaGrants initiative, allowing anyone to apply for up to in funding to support game development using the Unreal Engine or for any project, even if not directly games-related, that would benefit the Unreal Engine. One of the first major funded entities under this was the
Blender Foundation in July 2019, having received from the MegaGrants funding, to help them to improve and professionalize their
Blender
A blender (sometimes called a mixer or liquidiser in British English) is a kitchen and laboratory appliance used to mix, crush, purée or emulsify food and other substances. A stationary blender consists of a blender container with a rotating me ...
tools for 3D art creation.
Epic Games was given the
British Academy of Film and Television Arts
British may refer to:
Peoples, culture, and language
* British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories, and Crown Dependencies.
** Britishness, the British identity and common culture
* British English, ...
Special Award in June 2019 for its past and continuing developments for the Unreal Engine, a software which also earned it the Engineering Excellence Award from the
Hollywood Professional Association.
Epic announced in March 2020 it was establishing a new multi-platform publishing label, Epic Games Publishing. Alongside this, the label had announced three deals with developers
Remedy Entertainment
Remedy Entertainment Oyj, trading internationally as Remedy Entertainment Plc, is a Finnish video game developer based in Espoo. Notable games the studio has developed include the first two instalments in the '' Max Payne'' franchise, ''Alan ...
,
Playdead
Playdead ApS is a Danish independent video game developer based in Copenhagen. Game designers Arnt Jensen and Dino Patti created the company in 2006 to develop ''Limbo'', which was released in 2010 to critical acclaim. After a year of Xbox 360 ...
and
GenDesign in which Epic would fully fund development and publishing (including employee salaries, quality assurance, localization, and marketing) of one or more games from each studio, but leaving full creative control and IP rights to the studio, and sharing profits, following Epic's recouping of its investment, 50/50 with the studio. The company expanded their publishing options in October 2021 with
Spry Fox
Spry Fox is a video game producing company headquartered in Seattle, United States, that was founded in 2010 by David Edery and Daniel Cook. The company produced the games ''Triple Town'', a freemium strategy puzzle game with city-building ga ...
and Eyes Out.
Unreal Engine 5
Unreal Engine (UE) is a 3D computer graphics game engine developed by Epic Games, first showcased in the 1998 first-person shooter game ''Unreal (1998 video game), Unreal''. Initially developed for Personal computer, PC first-person shooters, i ...
was announced on May 13, 2020, with plans for an early 2022 release. Alongside this announcement, Epic released its Epic Online Services, a free SDK toolset for online matchmaking and other similar cross-platform play support features based on ''Fortnite''. Epic further waived all Unreal license fees retroactively for games up through the first in revenue, regardless of how they were published, retroactively starting from January 1, 2020.
''Bloomberg'' reported that Epic was nearing a valuation in June 2020 once it had completed a new investing round from its previous investors and newcomings T. Rowe Price Group Inc. and Baillie Gifford. The company partnered with
Christopher Nolan
Christopher Edward Nolan (born 30 July 1970) is a British-American filmmaker. Known for his lucrative Hollywood blockbusters with complex storytelling, Nolan is considered a leading filmmaker of the 21st century. His films have grossed $5&nb ...
and
Warner Bros.
Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc. (commonly known as Warner Bros. or abbreviated as WB) is an American film and entertainment studio headquartered at the Warner Bros. Studios complex in Burbank, California, and a subsidiary of Warner Bros. D ...
to acquire distribution rights for ''
Inception
''Inception'' is a 2010 science fiction action film written and directed by Christopher Nolan, who also produced the film with Emma Thomas, his wife. The film stars Leonardo DiCaprio as a professional thief who steals information by infi ...
'', ''
Batman Begins
''Batman Begins'' is a 2005 superhero film directed by Christopher Nolan and written by Nolan and David S. Goyer. The film is based on the DC Comics character Batman, it stars Christian Bale as Bruce Wayne / Batman, with Michael Caine, ...
'' and ''
The Prestige
''The Prestige'' is a 1995 fantasy novel by British writer Christopher Priest. It tells the story of a prolonged feud between two stage magicians in late 1800s England. It is epistolary in structure; that is, it purports to be a collection of ...
'' as part of "Movie Nite" on Fortnite's "Party Royale" island. The film livestreams were based on a user's country.
Across July and August, Epic raised an additional in capital investment, bringing the company's post-money equity valuation to .
This included a investment from
Sony
, commonly stylized as SONY, is a Japanese multinational conglomerate corporation headquartered in Minato, Tokyo, Japan. As a major technology company, it operates as one of the world's largest manufacturers of consumer and professiona ...
, approximately a 1.4% stake in the company. The deal continues the two companies' technology collaboration after they had worked together on the development of Unreal Engine 5, but does not commit Epic to any exclusivity to the Sony PlayStation platform.
Sweeney said that Sony had started talking with Epic about investing following the demonstration of the Unreal Engine 5 in May 2020.
Epic purchased
Cary Towne Center
Cary Towne Center was an indoor shopping mall in Cary, North Carolina. It was anchored by Belk, Dillard's, Macy's, JCPenney, and Sears.
History
Cary Village Mall
Originally planned in 1972, the mall was first proposed as the adjacent Cary Villa ...
in Cary, North Carolina, in January 2021, which had been scheduled to be closed and demolished after 2020, to be their new headquarters and campus, with the conversion to be complete by 2024.
Epic unveiled its MetaHuman Creator project in February 2021. Based on the technology from 3Lateral, Cubic Motion, and Quixel, the MetaHuman Creator is a browser-based application to allow game developers to create realistic human characters within a short amount of time starting from various presets, and then can be exported as pre-made models and animation files ready for use in Unreal Engine.
Epic announced a partnership with Cesium in March 2021 to bring its 3D
geospatial
Geographic data and information is defined in the ISO/TC 211 series of standards as data and information having an implicit or explicit association with a location relative to Earth (a geographic location or geographic position).
It is also ca ...
data as a free add-on into the Unreal Engine.
In April 2021, Epic completed another round of funding to support the company's "long-term vision for the
metaverse
In science fiction, the "metaverse" is a hypothetical iteration of the Internet as a single, universal, and immersive virtual world that is facilitated by the use of virtual reality (VR) and augmented reality (AR) headsets. In colloquial usa ...
", putting the company's valuation at . The round of funding included another strategic investment from Sony.
Sweeney remains the controlling shareholder with these additional investments.
The Information reported that Epic Games was launching a new scripted entertainment division in October 2021, bringing on three former executives from
Lucasfilm to manage it, with initial plans for a ''Fortnite'' film.
In February 2022 Epic Games announced that at least half a billion accounts have been created on its platform.
Epic released the initial beta version of RealityScan, a mobile app that uses the tools from Capturing Reality and Quixel, in April 2022. RealityScan allows users to create 3D models that can be imported into Sketchfab using photos taken by the user.
Epic received another $1 billion each from Sony and from Kirkbi, the parent company of
The Lego Group
Lego A/S (trade name: The Lego Group) is a Danish toy production company based in Billund, Denmark. It manufactures Lego-brand toys, consisting mostly of interlocking plastic bricks. The Lego Group has also built several amusement parks aroun ...
, in April 2022 for continued support of building out Epic's metaverse. These investments gave Kirkbi 3% ownership and increased Sony's to 4.9%. With these investments, Epic had an estimated valuation of . Epic and Lego also announced their partnership to build a child-friendly space in the metaverse that same month.
Acquisitions
In 2008, Epic acquired Utah based
Chair Entertainment
Chair Entertainment Group, LLC (stylized as ChAIR) is an American video game developer based in Salt Lake City. The company was acquired by Epic Games in 2008.
History
Chair Entertainment was formed in 2005 by Donald Mustard and Geremy Mustard ...
, developer of ''
Undertow''.
Summer 2009 saw the launch of Chair's ''
Shadow Complex'', an adventure game inspired by the ''
Metroid'' series.
Epic announced in October 2018 that it had acquired in investment from seven firms:
KKR,
ICONIQ Capital, Smash Ventures,
aXiomatic
An axiom, postulate, or assumption is a statement that is taken to be true, to serve as a premise or starting point for further reasoning and arguments. The word comes from the Ancient Greek word (), meaning 'that which is thought worthy or ...
,
Vulcan Capital
Vulcan LLC is a privately held company founded by the Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen and his sister Jody Allen in 1986 to establish and oversee the family's diverse business activities and philanthropic endeavors. It includes Vulcan Real Estate ...
,
Kleiner Perkins, and
Lightspeed Venture Partners
Lightspeed Venture Partners is a global venture capital firm focusing on multi-stage investments in the enterprise, consumer, and health sectors. Lightspeed invests in seed, early and growth-stage companies.
The company invests in the U.S. and a ...
. The firms join Tencent, Disney, and Endeavor as minority shareholders in Epic. With the investment, Epic Games was estimated to have a nearly valuation in October 2018.
Besides expanding support for ''Fortnite'' and the Epic Games Store, these investments allowed Epic to acquire additional firms. In January 2018, it was announced that Epic had acquired
Cloudgine
Cloudgine Limited was a British video game developer based in Edinburgh. Founded in 2012 by Dave Jones, it focuses on cloud technologies for video games. It was acquired by Epic Games in 2018 and integrated.
History
Cloudgine was founded ...
, a developer of cloud-based gaming software.
The company also announced the acquisition of Kamu, a firm that offered anti-cheat software called Easy Anti-Cheat, in October 2018.
A year later, in January 2019, Epic acquired 3Lateral and Agog Labs. 3Lateral is known for its "digital human" creations, using a combination of digital technology, motion capture, and other tools to create photo-realistic human subjects in real time. Epic plans to add some of 3Lateral's features to the Unreal Engine.
Agog had developed SkookumScript, a platform for scripting events in video games; on announcement of this acquisition, Agog stated they will stop development of SkookumScript to work more on Unreal Engine scripting support.
Epic acquired
Psyonix
Psyonix LLC is an American video game developer based in San Diego. Founded in 2000 by Dave Hagewood, the company is best known for its 2015 game ''Rocket League''. In May 2019, Psyonix was acquired by Epic Games.
History
Psyonix was founded ...
, the developer of ''
Rocket League
''Rocket League'' is a vehicular soccer video game developed and published by Psyonix. The game was first released for Windows and PlayStation 4 in July 2015, with ports for Xbox One and Nintendo Switch being released later on. In June ...
'', in May 2019. Epic and Psyonix have had a past history, as Psyonix was originally founded a few miles from Epic's headquarters and had contributed to Epic's ''Unreal Tournament''.
Epic acquired the Twinmotion visualization tool used in architectural design in May 2019 from Abvent, and which they plan to expand and incorporate into their Unreal Engine offerings. Epic acquired Life on Air, the developers behind ''
Houseparty'', a
social networking service, in June 2019. The monetary terms of the acquisition were not disclosed.
Epic later shuttered Houseparty's app in October 2021, though the team behind it was continuing to develop social apps for Epic's platforms.
In November 2019, Epic acquired Quixel, the world's largest
photogrammetry asset library which makes 3D models of objects based on real-world high-definition photography. Epic plans to open Quixel's existing library of models to users of Unreal Engine, while the Quixel staff will continue to build out its assets within Epic.
The company acquired Cubic Motion, a studio that provides highly detailed digital facial animations for both films and video games, in March 2020.
Epic acquired SuperAwesome, a firm that has developed services to support children-safe games and services around games, in September 2020, as to incorporate these elements more into Epic's portfolio and to offer to other developers, particularly for games built around Epic's vision of metaverse games.
Epic acquired the digital facial animation firm Hyprsense in November 2020.
In January 2021, Epic acquired
RAD Game Tools, a company that makes a variety of middleware solutions for video game development which Epic plans to incorporate into the Unreal Engine. RAD's tools will still remain available outside of Unreal as well.
In March 2021, Epic announced it was acquiring the Tonic Games Group, which includes developers
Mediatonic
Mediatonic Limited is a British video game developer based in London. The company was founded in September 2005 by Brunel University students Dave Bailey and Paul Croft, releasing their first game, ''Snowman Salvage'' in December that year. In ...
and Fortitude Games. Mediatonic's ''
Fall Guys
''Fall Guys'' (formerly known as ''Fall Guys: Ultimate Knockout'') is a free-to-play platform battle royale game developed by Mediatonic. The game involves up to 60 players who control jellybean-like creatures and compete against each other ...
'', a major success during 2020, would remain available on Steam while Epic would help to bring it to additional platforms.
Epic buying Tonic Games Group falls under the company’s broader plans of creating its own
metaverse
In science fiction, the "metaverse" is a hypothetical iteration of the Internet as a single, universal, and immersive virtual world that is facilitated by the use of virtual reality (VR) and augmented reality (AR) headsets. In colloquial usa ...
. Additionally in March, Epic acquired Capturing Reality, the developers of
RealityCapture, a photogrammetry suite that can create 3D models from numerous photographs. Epic plans to integrate RealityCapture into the Unreal Engine.
Epic Games acquired ArtStation, a professional artists' marketplace, in April 2021. As part of the acquisition, ArtStation members would gain access to Epic's tools and support such as the Unreal Engine, while the ArtStation marketplace will reduce its take on purchases from 30% to 12%.
In July 2021, Epic acquired
Sketchfab
Sketchfab is a 3D modeling platform website to publish, share, discover, buy and sell 3D, VR and AR content. It provides a viewer based on the WebGL and WebXR technologies that allows users to display 3D models on the web, to be viewed on ...
, a marketplace for 3D models. As with ArtStation, the acquisition allowed Sketchfab to reduce their pricing structure, lowering their revenue cut on purchases to 12% and making their Sketchfab Plus level of membership free.
In November 2021, Epic Games acquired
Harmonix
Harmonix Music Systems, Inc., doing business as Harmonix, is an American video game developer company based in Boston, Massachusetts. The company was established in May 1995 by Alex Rigopulos and Eran Egozy. Harmonix is perhaps best known as bei ...
, a music game developer, for undisclosed terms.
Harmonix will continue to support their existing games including ''
Rock Band 4
''Rock Band 4'' is a 2015 music video game developed and published by Harmonix. ''Rock Band 4'' allows players to simulate the playing of music across many different decades and genres using instrument controllers that mimic playing lead and bas ...
'' and ''
Fuser'' and will help Epic with expanding musical experiences and gameplay within ''Fortnite'' and Epic's larger metaverse plans.
Epic acquired the indie music platform
Bandcamp
Bandcamp is an American online audio distribution platform founded in 2007 by Oddpost co-founder Ethan Diamond and programmers Shawn Grunberger, Joe Holt and Neal Tucker, with headquarters in Oakland, California, US. On March 2, 2022, Bandcamp ...
in March 2022. Bandcamp is expected to remain independently operated under Epic but will gain benefits of Epic's backend services.
Products
Video games
Epic Games is known for games such as ''
ZZT'' developed by founder Tim Sweeney, various shareware titles including ''
Jazz Jackrabbit
''Jazz Jackrabbit'' is a series of platform games featuring the eponymous character, Jazz Jackrabbit, a green anthropomorphic hare, who fights with his nemesis, Devan Shell, in a science fiction parody of the fable, ''The Tortoise and the Hare' ...
'' and ''
Epic Pinball
''Epic Pinball'' is a 1993 pinball video game developed by James Schmalz and published by Epic MegaGames. The initial release pre-dated Schmalz' Digital Extremes name. The game is played seen from a 2D top-down view within a scrollable window wi ...
'', the ''
Unreal
Unreal may refer to:
Books and TV
* ''Unreal'' (short story collection), a 1985 book of short stories by Paul Jennings
* ''Unreal'' (TV series), a 2015 television drama series on Lifetime
Computing and games
* ''Unreal'' (video game series), ...
'' video game series, which is used as a showcase for its
Unreal Engine
Unreal Engine (UE) is a 3D computer graphics game engine developed by Epic Games, first showcased in the 1998 first-person shooter game '' Unreal''. Initially developed for PC first-person shooters, it has since been used in a variety of g ...
, the ''
Gears of War'' series which is now owned by
The Coalition and
Xbox Game Studios
Xbox Game Studios (previously known as Microsoft Studios, Microsoft Game Studios, and Microsoft Games) is an American video game publisher and part of the Microsoft Gaming division based in Redmond, Washington. It was established in March 2000, ...
, ''
Infinity Blade
''Infinity Blade'' is an action role-playing game developed by Chair Entertainment and Epic Games and released through the Apple App Store on December 9, 2010. It was the first iOS video game to run on the Unreal Engine. In the game, the unname ...
'', ''
Shadow Complex'', ''
Bulletstorm
''Bulletstorm'' is a 2011 first-person shooter game developed by People Can Fly and Epic Games and published by Electronic Arts (EA). The video game is distinguished by its system of rewarding players with "skillpoints" for performing increasin ...
'', and ''
Fortnite
''Fortnite'' is an online video game developed by Epic Games and released in 2017. It is available in three distinct game mode versions that otherwise share the same general gameplay and game engine: ''Fortnite Battle Royale'', a free-to- ...
''.
Unreal Engine
Epic is the proprietor of four successful
game engines in the video game industry. Each Unreal Engine has a complete feature set of graphical rendering, sound processing, and physics that can be widely adapted to fit the specific needs of a game developer that does not want to code its own engine from scratch. The five engines Epic has created are the Unreal Engine 1, Unreal Engine 2 (including its 2.5 and 2.X releases), Unreal Engine 3, Unreal Engine 4 and the Unreal Engine 5. Epic also provides support to the Unreal marketplace, a digital storefront for creators to sell Unreal assets to other developers. Further, since 2019, Epic has provided support for filmmakers which have utilized the Unreal Engine to create virtual sets for productions such as ''
The Mandalorian
''The Mandalorian'' is an American space Western television series created by Jon Favreau for the streaming service Disney+. It is the first live-action series in the ''Star Wars'' franchise, beginning five years after the events of '' Retur ...
'', and will be backing major animated feature film production using Unreal, starting with ''Gilgamesh'' with studios Hook Up, DuermeVela and FilmSharks.
Epic Games Store
Epic announced its own Epic Games Store, an open digital storefront for games, on December 4, 2018, which launched a few days later with
The Game Awards 2018
The Game Awards 2018 was an award show that honored the best video games of 2018. It was produced and hosted by Geoff Keighley, creator and producer of The Game Awards, and was held to an invited audience at the Microsoft Theater in Los Angele ...
presentation. Differing from
Valve
A valve is a device or natural object that regulates, directs or controls the flow of a fluid (gases, liquids, fluidized solids, or slurries) by opening, closing, or partially obstructing various passageways. Valves are technically fitting ...
's
Steam storefront, which takes 30% of revenues (30/70 revenue-sharing agreement) from the sale of a game, the Epic Game Store will take 12%, as well as foregoing the 5% for games developed in the Unreal Engine, anticipating that these lower revenue-sharing agreements will draw developers to it.
Epic Online Services
Epic Online Services is a free SDK based on Epic's ''Fortnite'' code that allows developers to implement
cross-platform play
In video games with online gaming functionality, also called cross-compatible play, cross-platform play, crossplay, or cross-play describes the ability of players using different video game hardware to play with each other simultaneously. It is c ...
features in their games, including matchmaking, friends lists, leaderboards, and achievements, with support for Windows, macOS, PlayStation 4, Xbox One, Nintendo Switch, iOS, and Android systems. It was first released for all in May 2020.
Support for
anti-cheat
Cheating in online games is the subversion of the rules or mechanics of online video games to gain an unfair advantage over other players, generally with the use of third-party software. What constitutes cheating is dependent on the game in ...
and
voice chat
Voice chat is telecommunication via voice over IP technologies—especially when those technologies are used among players in multiplayer online games.
Users might use either a VoIP engine system that is built into the game, or a separate pro ...
was added in June 2021.
Subsidiaries and divisions
Former
Legal issues
Litigation with Silicon Knights
On July 19, 2007, Canadian game studio
Silicon Knights
Silicon Knights was a Canadian video game developer. Founded in 1992 by Denis Dyack, the company was headquartered in St. Catharines, Ontario. They started developing for computers such as the Atari ST and IBM PC compatibles. After 1996, they mo ...
sued Epic Games for failure to "provide a working game engine", causing the Ontario-based game developer to "experience considerable losses". The suit alleged that Epic Games was "sabotaging" Unreal Engine 3 licensees. Epic's licensing document stated that a working version of the engine would be available within six months of the Xbox 360 developer kits being released. Silicon Knights claimed that Epic not only missed this deadline, but that when a working version of the engine was eventually released, the documentation was insufficient. The game studio also claimed Epic had withheld vital improvements to the game engine, claiming they were game-specific, while also using licensing fees to fund the development of its own titles rather than the engine itself.
In August 2007, Epic Games
counter-sued
In a court of law, a party's claim is a counterclaim if one party asserts claims in response to the claims of another. In other words, if a plaintiff initiates a lawsuit and a defendant responds to the lawsuit with claims of their own against th ...
Silicon Knights, alleging the studio was aware when it signed on that certain features of Unreal Engine 3 were still in development and that components would continue to be developed and added as Epic completed work on ''
Gears of War''. Therefore, in a statement, Epic said that "SK knew when it committed to the licensing agreement that Unreal Engine 3 may not meet its requirements and may not be modified to meet them".
Additionally, the counter-suit claimed that Silicon Knights had "made unauthorized use of Epic's Licensed Technology" and had "infringed and otherwise violated Epic's intellectual property rights, including Epic's copyrighted works, trade secrets, know how and confidential information" by incorporating Unreal Engine 3 code into its own engine, the Silicon Knights Engine.
Furthermore, Epic asserted the Canadian developer broke the contract when it employed this derivative work in an internal title and a second game with
Sega,
a partnership for which it never received a license fee.
On May 30, 2012, Epic Games defeated Silicon Knights' lawsuit, and won its counter-suit for $4.45 million on grounds of copyright infringement, misappropriation of trade secrets, and breach of contract, an injury award that was later doubled due to prejudgment interest, attorneys' fees and costs.
Consistent with Epic's counterclaims, the presiding judge,
James C. Dever III, stated that Silicon Knights had "deliberately and repeatedly copied thousands of lines of Epic Games' copyrighted code, and then attempted to conceal its wrongdoing by removing Epic Games' copyright notices and by disguising Epic Games' copyrighted code as Silicon Knights' own".
Dever stated that evidence against Silicon Knights was "overwhelming", as it not only copied functional code but also "non-functional, internal comments Epic Games' programmers had left for themselves".
As a result, on November 7, 2012, Silicon Knights was directed by the court to destroy all game code derived from Unreal Engine 3, all information from licensee-restricted areas of Epic's Unreal Engine documentation website, and to permit Epic Games access to the company's servers and other devices to ensure these items have been removed. In addition, the studio was instructed to recall and destroy all unsold retail copies of games built with Unreal Engine 3 code, including ''
Too Human
''Too Human'' is an action role-playing game developed by Silicon Knights and published by Microsoft Studios. It was released in August 2008 for the Xbox 360. The game's story is a science-fictional futuristic retelling of Norse mythology tha ...
'', ''
X-Men Destiny
''X-Men: Destiny'' is an action role-playing video game based on the ''X-Men'' comic book series. It was developed by Silicon Knights. Written by Mike Carey, the writer of the '' X-Men: Legacy'' comic book series, it was published and released ...
'', ''The Sandman'', ''The Box''/''Ritualyst'', and ''Siren in the Maelstrom'' (the latter three titles were projects never released, or even officially announced).
On May 16, 2014, Silicon Knights filed for bankruptcy and a Certificate of Appointment was issued by the office of the
Superintendent of Bankruptcy
The Superintendent of Bankruptcy is a Canadian government position charged to ensure that bankruptcies
Bankruptcy is a legal process through which people or other entities who cannot repay debts to creditors may seek relief from some or all of ...
, with Collins Barrow Toronto Limited being appointed as
trustee in bankruptcy
A trustee in bankruptcy is an entity, often an individual, in charge of administering a bankruptcy estate.
Canada
In Canada, a licensed insolvency trustee (LIT) is an individual or a corporation licensed by the official superintendent to hold ...
.
Apple and Google disputes
Since as early as 2017, Tim Sweeney had questioned the need for digital storefronts like Valve's Steam, Apple's iOS App Store, and Google Play, to take a 30%
revenue sharing
Revenue sharing is the distribution of revenue, the total amount of income generated by the sale of goods and services among the stakeholders or contributors. It should not be confused with profit shares, in which scheme only the profit is share ...
cut, and argued that when accounting for current rates of content distribution and other factors needed, a revenue cut of 8% should be sufficient to run any digital storefront profitably. When Epic brought ''Fortnite Battle Royale'' to mobile devices, the company initially offered a
sideloaded package for Android systems to bypass the Google Play store, but eventually also made it a store app.
On August 13, 2020, Epic Games updated ''Fortnite'' across all platforms, including the iOS and Android versions, to reduce the price of "V-Bucks" (the in-game currency) by 20% if they purchased directly from Epic. For iOS and Android users, if they purchased through the Apple or Google storefront, they were not given this discount, as Epic said they could not extend the discount due to the 30% revenue cut taken by Apple and Google. Within hours, both Apple and Google had removed ''Fortnite'' from their storefronts stating the means of bypassing their payment systems violated the terms of service.
Epic immediately filed separate lawsuits against Apple and Google for antitrust and anticompetitive behavior in the
United States District Court for the Northern District of California.
Epic did not seek monetary damages in either case but instead was "seeking injunctive relief to allow fair competition in these two key markets that directly affect hundreds of millions of consumers and tens of thousands, if not more, of third-party app developers."
In comments on social media the next day, Sweeney said that they undertook the actions as "we're fighting for the freedom of people who bought smartphones to install apps from sources of their choosing, the freedom for creators of apps to distribute them as they choose, and the freedom of both groups to do business directly. The primary opposing argument is: 'Smartphone markers
iccan do whatever they want.' This as an awful notion. We all have rights, and we need to fight to defend our rights against whoever would deny them."
Apple responded to the lawsuit that it would terminate Epic's developer accounts by August 28, 2020, leading Epic to file a motion for a preliminary injunction to force Apple to return ''Fortnite'' to the App Store and prevent them from terminating Epic's developer accounts, as the latter action would leave Epic unable to update the Unreal Engine for any changes to iOS or macOS and leave developers that relied on Unreal at risk. The court granted the preliminary injunction against Apple from terminating the developer accounts as Epic had shown "potential significant damage to both the Unreal Engine platform itself, and to the gaming industry generally", but refused to grant the injunction related to ''Fortnite'' as "The current predicament appears of
pic'sown making." In September 2020, Epic Games, together with thirteen other companies, launched the
Coalition for App Fairness
The Coalition for App Fairness (CAF) is a coalition comprised by companies who aim to reach a fairer deal for the inclusion of their apps into the Apple App Store or the Google Play Store. The organization's executive director is Meghan DiMuzio ...
, which aimed for better conditions for the inclusion of apps into app stores.
Judge Rogers issued her first ruling on Epic Games v. Apple on September 10, 2021. Rogers found in favor of Apple on nine of ten counts brought up against them in the case, including Epic's charges related to Apple's 30% revenue cut and Apple's prohibition against third-party marketplaces on the iOS environment.
Rogers did rule against Apple on the final charge related to anti-steering provisions, and issued a permanent injunction that, in 90 days from the ruling, blocked Apple from preventing developers from linking app users to other storefronts from within apps to complete purchases or from collecting information within an app, such as an email, to notify users of these storefronts.
FTC child privacy settlement
In December 2022, Epic Games was fined a combined $520 million after the
Federal Trade Commission accused the company of separate accounts related to ''Fortnite'', one for violating
COPPA related to children's privacy by collecting personal data without parent or guardian consent, exposing children and teens to potential harassment, and a second related to misleading users into making unwanted purchases while playing the game.
Epic Games said "No developer creates a game with the intention of ending up here. The laws have not changed, but their application has evolved and long-standing industry practices are no longer enough. We accepted this agreement because we want Epic to be at the forefront of consumer protection and provide the best experience for our players. Over the past few years, we’ve been making changes to ensure our ecosystem meets the expectations of our players and regulators, which we hope will be a helpful guide for others in our industry."
Criticisms
Since the partial investment by the Chinese company Tencent, some consumers have become wary of Epic Games' reliability and use of their data, particularly
in relationship with the Epic Games Store. These concerns have been connected to broader issues of general distrust of the Chinese government and Chinese corporations among some Western video game players. Epic has stated that Tencent does not have access to any of this private data nor provides this to the Chinese government.
In late March 2020, accusations began circulating on social media that the Epic Games social networking app ''Houseparty'' led to other services such as
Netflix
Netflix, Inc. is an American subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming service and production company based in Los Gatos, California. Founded in 1997 by Reed Hastings and Marc Randolph in Scotts Valley, California, it offers a fi ...
and
Spotify
Spotify (; ) is a proprietary Swedish audio streaming and media services provider founded on 23 April 2006 by Daniel Ek and Martin Lorentzon. It is one of the largest music streaming service providers, with over 456 million monthly active us ...
being
hacked. However, both Epic and Life on Air claimed this was a
smear campaign against its product and offered a bounty for anyone able to substantiate their claim.
Further reading
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{{Authority control
1991 establishments in Maryland
American companies established in 1991
Companies based in Cary, North Carolina
Golden Joystick Award winners
Potomac, Maryland
Privately held companies based in North Carolina
Tencent
Video game companies established in 1991
Video game companies of the United States
Video game development companies
Video game publishers