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Sony now has a $250 million minority stake in developer Epic Games, as a “strategic investment” for “further collaboration.”
Of course, it was the Unreal Engine 5 which was shown off on the PlayStation 5, with all those Lumens and Nanites. “Epic’s powerful technology in areas such as graphics places them at the forefront of game engine development with Unreal Engine and other innovations,” enthused Kenichiro Yoshida, chairman, president and CEO of Sony. “Through our investment, we will explore opportunities for further collaboration with Epic to delight and bring value to consumers and the industry at large, not only in games, but also across the rapidly evolving digital entertainment landscape.”
A $250 million minority stake might sound like an oxymoron, but Epic Games is valued at about $16 billion, according to Bloomberg. As a result, this isn’t a massive arrangement like Tencent’s acquisition of Riot Games, for example, but it does bode well for the two titans’ partnership. “Sony and Epic have both built businesses at the intersection of creativity and technology, and we share a vision of real-time 3D social experiences leading to a convergence of gaming, film, and music. Together we strive to build an even more open and accessible digital ecosystem for all consumers and content creators alike,” said Tim Sweeney, CEO at Epic Games.
This “ecosystem” buzzword was thrown about a bit when it was announced that Horizon Zero Dawn would be coming to PC. Originally a PlayStation exclusive, it is one more step towards the creation of clusters instead of the clear-cut split of platforms in the future. One may only look at the success of services such as Xbox Game Pass and PS Now, which allow the streaming of Xbox or PlayStation games on the PC, for further proof.
