Epic Games Is Private, Valuation Nears Publicly-Traded Companies

You may know Epic Games as the creator Fortnite, but the company has been around since the 1990s. It started out as Potomac Computer Systems and later changed to Epic MegaGames. Now, Epic Games has become a video game venture worth billions of dollars. 

Even though Epic Games isn't publicly traded, it has created enough of a name for itself to compete with other big names in the gaming industry. The company sued Apple in 2020 over its App Store commissions.

Currently, Epic Games is a private company. It's owned by founder and CEO Tim Sweeney. The company doesn't have any plans to go public.

In May 2019, Psyonix, maker of Rocket League announced in a press release that it had been acquired by Epic Games. The details of the deal weren't disclosed. However, the deal was meant to give Rocket League more support and resources. 

The merger might have been a long time in the making. The Verge reported that the two companies have been friendly ever since Psyonix was founded in 2001. In fact, Psyonix was founded just a few miles away from Epic Games' headquarters in Cary, N.C. 

"Psyonix has always been a part of the Epic family, and we’re happy to make it official," Epic CEO Sweeney said in a statement. "We have great respect for how Psyonix has built an excellent team and an incredible community around Rocket League."

Epic Games doesn't own Rockstar. Rockstar is still owned by Take-Two Interactive. For a short amount of time, Rockstar's hit game GTA 5 was available on the Epic Games' web store for free. The move had fans racing to get the game for their PC at such a high volume that the store crashed. 

Epic Games tweeted a response to fans addressing the issue. Eventually, the company was able to release updates to its web store that allowed most people to download the game without an issue. Part of the reason fans wanted to try and download the game was that the game was only available for a limited time. 

There aren't exact numbers for Epic Games' net worth in 2021. Many publications say the company's worth is in the billions. Wealthy Persons estimates that the company is worth over $18 billion. Last year, The Wall Street Journal said that the company is worth $15 billion. Forbes reported that Epic Games is worth more than twice as much as Major League Soccer. 

Even though Epic Games hasn't gone public, according to The Motley Fool, it's closing the gap between itself and publicly-traded companies in terms of valuation. The publication lists big names like Activision Blizzard, Electronic Arts, and Interactive Software that were worth $56, 36.5, and $15.6 billion, respectively, at the time of publication.