James can't stop buying $20 Fortnite skins. And now it appears Fortnite developer Epic Games is worth $8 billion. Go figure.
According to Bloomberg (via gamesindustry.biz), Fortnite is set to accrue $2 billion this year alone—and, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index, the developer is now valued between $5 billion and $8 billion. This figure includes all of Epic's business ventures, including its Unreal Engine. This also makes Tim Sweeney, Epic's CEO and founder, a billionaire.
As reported by Tyler at the time, the Chinese internet company Tencent owned 40 percent of Epic Games back in 2013. Epic was then valued at $825 million, which, for the sake of perspective, was well overshadowed by League of Legends' $1 billion microtransaction haul the following year.
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Back to the present day, and Bloomberg's report says "based on trading multiples of peers, Electronic Arts Inc. and Activision Blizzard Inc., Epic could be worth as much as $14 billion." It does however qualify this by saying potential buyers may demand a discount regarding Fortnite's scope for sustaining revenue growth.
I don't claim to understand the world of finance, but the battle royale's widespread global influence makes the above easy to believe. From the World Cup Final to Funko Pop figurines, it doesn't look like Fortnite's appeal is faltering either.
