Epic Games, Inc. is an American onlEpic Games ine game Epic Games and software Epic Games program developer and publisher based in Cary, North Carolina. The company become founded by Tim Sweeney as Potomac Computer Systems in 1991, originally placed in his mother and father’ residence in Potomac, Maryland. Following his first business online game Epic Games launch, ZZT (1991), the corporation became Epic MegaGames, Inc. in early 1992 and brought on Mark Rein, who has been its vice president since. Moving their headquarters to Cary in 1999, the studio’s name become simplified to Epic Games.
Epic Games develops Unreal Engine, a commercially to be had game engine which also powers their internally evolved video video games, together with Fortnite and the Unreal, Gears of War and Infinity Blade series. In 2014, Unreal Engine changed into named the “maximum successful videogame engine” by using Guinness World Records.[five]
Epic Games owns the sport builders Chair Entertainment, Psyonix, Mediatonic and Harmonix, as well as cloud-based software developer Cloudgine, and operates studios in Seattle, England, Berlin, Yokohama and Seoul. While Sweeney remains the controlling shareholder, Tencent received a 48.4% fantastic stake, equating to forty% of overall Epic, within the employer in 2012, as part of an agreement aimed at transferring Epic closer to a video games as a provider model. Following the discharge of the popular Fortnite Battle Royale in 2017, the agency received extra investments Epic Games that enabled to expand its Unreal Engine services, establish esport activities around Fortnite, and launch the Epic Games Store. As of April 2022, the enterprise has a US$32 billion equity valuation.
On August thirteen, 2020, Epic released a model of Fortnite that blanketed a permanent cut price on V-bucks throughout all platforms, however for the ones on iOS and Android devices, best if they purchased at once through Epic, bypassing Apple and Google’s storefronts. Both Apple and Google straight away delisted the sport for violating the storefronts’ phrases of provider by means of inclusive of their personal storefront, which led Epic to file proceedings towards each companies the identical day, accusing them of antitrust conduct in how they function their app shops.[6]HistoryPotomac Computer Systems (1991–1992)
Potomac Computer Systems was founded through Tim Sweeney in 1991.[7] At the time, Sweeney become studying mechanical engineering and dwelling in a dorm at the University of Maryland. He frequently visited his dad and mom, who lived in close by Potomac, Maryland, wherein his non-public Epic Games laptop, used for each work and entertainment, became situated.[7] Out of this location, Sweeney started out Potomac Computer Systems as a computer consulting commercial enterprise, however later figured that it would be too much paintings he would must put into preserving the enterprise strong, and scrapped the concept.[7]
After finishing his sport ZZT, Sweeney opted to re-use the Potomac Computer Systems name to release the sport to the general public in January 1991.[7][8] It became handiest with the surprising success of ZZT, induced in most part by using the smooth modifiability of the sport the use of Sweeney’s custom ZZT-oop programming language,[nine] that made Sweeney do not forget turning Potomac Computer Systems right into a video game enterprise.[7] ZZT become offered via bulletin board systems, even as all orders have been fulfilled by way of Sweeney’s father, Paul Sweeney.[10] The recreation sold numerous thousand copies as of May 2009, and Paul Sweeney Epic Games nevertheless lived at the previous Potomac Computer Systems address at the time, fulfilling all orders that finally got here through mail.[7][10] The very last replica of ZZT became shipped by Paul Sweeney in November 2013.[10]Epic MegaGames (1992–1999)
In early 1992, Sweeney found himself and his new-determined online game agency in a commercial enterprise where large studios, inclusive of Apogee Software and identification Software, had been dominant, and he had to discover a extra severe name for his.[7] As such, Sweeney came up with “Epic MegaGames”, a name which integrated “Epic” and “Mega” to make it sound love it represented a fairly huge corporation (such as Apogee Software), despite the fact that he was its handiest employee.[7] Sweeney soon underwent attempting to find a commercial enterprise accomplice, and in the end caught up with Mark Rein, who formerly stop his process at identification Software and moved to Toronto, Ontario.[nine][7] Rein labored remotely from Toronto, and in most cases dealt with income, marketing and publishing Epic Games deals; commercial enterprise improvement that Sweeney found to have significantly contributed to the agency’s growth.[7] Some time this season, the organisation soon had 20 personnel together with programmers, artists, designers and composers.[11] Among them became the 17-12 months vintage Cliff Bleszinski, who joined the employer after filing his sport Dare to Dream to Sweeney.[12] The following yr, they’d over 30 Epic Games personnel.[thirteen]
In 1996, Epic MegaGames produced a shareware isometric shooter referred to as Fire Fight, advanced by using Polish studio Chaos Works. It turned into posted by way of Electronic Arts.[14] By 1997, Epic MegaGames had 50 people running for them international.[15] In 1998, Epic MegaGames launched Unreal, a 3-d first-man or woman shooter co-advanced with Digital Extremes, which extended into a sequence of Unreal video games. The agency also started out to license the core technology, the Unreal Engine, to other game builders.Epic Games (1999–present)Unreal and private computer games (1999–2006)
In February 1999, Epic MegaGames introduced that they’d moved their headquarters to a brand new area in Cary, North Carolina, and might henceforth be called really Epic Games.[16] Rein explained that “Unreal changed into first created by developers who Epic Games were scattered the world over, subsequently, the group got here collectively to complete the game and that’s when the real magic commenced. The flow to North Carolina centralizes Epic, bringing all of the enterprise’s talented developers below one roof.”[16] Furthermore, Sweeney Epic Games stated that the “Mega” a part of the name turned into dropped because they now not wanted to fake to be a large organization, as became the original aim of the name when it become a one-guy team.[7] The follow-up recreation, Unreal Tournament, shipped to important acclaim the same 12 months,[17] at which point the studio had 13 personnel.[18]
The organization launched the Make Something Unreal competition in 2004, Epic Games aiming to praise online game builders who create mods using the Unreal game engine. Tripwire Interactive gained US$80,000 in cash and laptop hardware prizes over the course of the competition in the first contest in 2004.[19][20]Gears of War and Epic Games console video games (2006–2012)
Around 2006, the private computer online game marketplace become struggling with copyright infringement within the form of software piracy, and it have become tough to make unmarried-participant games, factors which were part of Epic’s commercial enterprise version to that factor. The corporation decided to shift attention into developing on console structures, a flow which Sweeney called the start of the 0.33 most important iteration of the organization, “Epic three.0”.[21] In 2006, Epic released the Xbox 360 shooter Gears of War, which have become a industrial fulfillment for the enterprise, grossing approximately $one hundred Epic Games million off a $12 million finances.[22][21] A 12 months later, the corporation launched Unreal Tournament three for PC and purchased a majority share in People Can Fly.[23][24]
In 2008, Epic Games launched Gears of War 2,[25] promoting over 3 million copies inside the first month of its release.[26]
Epic Games released on September 1, 2010 Epic Citadel as a tech demo to illustrate the Unreal Engine 3 strolling on Apple iOS, within Adobe Flash Player Stage3D and the use of HTML5 WebGL technology. It was additionally launched for Android on January 29, 2013. Epic Games worked on an iOS game, Infinity Blade,[27] which changed into released on December 9, 2010.[28] The third game within the series, Gears of War three, came out in 2011.[29]
In 2011, Epic’s subsidiary Titan Studios turned into dissolved.[30] At the 2011 Spike Video Game Awards, Epic Games introduced their new game Fortnite.[31]
In June 2012, Epic announced that it’s far starting up a new studio, Epic Baltimore, made of contributors of 38 Studios’ Big Huge Games.[32] Epic Baltimore turned into renamed to Impossible Studios in August 2012.[33] However, the studio ended up remaining its doorways in February 2013.[34][35]