Report: Cary’s Epic Games raising $750 million

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A major gaming company based in Cary is closing in on a huge fundraising round, according to a recent report.

Epic Games is seeking $750 million in new funding, a Bloomberg report said, citing people close to the matter. The round would increase the company’s valuation to $17 billion, up from $15 billion in 2018 when Epic closed a $1.25 billion round.

Gaming companies have seen demand grow during the pandemic as stay-at-home orders keep people inside. Epic is behind the massive, global hit “Fortnite,” which has hundreds of millions of players around the globe.

Epic Games declined to comment on the Bloomberg report, which said existing investors in the round include KKR & Co. (NYSE: KKR) and new investors are T. Rowe Price Group Inc. (Nasdaq: TROW) and Baillie Gifford.

Global digital game spending hit a record $109.4 billion in 2019 – up 3 percent from the previous year, according to data from Nielsen’s SuperData Research Group. And the top earning title, once again, was “Fortnite,” which generated $1.8 billion in 2019 – down from $2.4 billion in 2018.

On an earnings call in March, Ann Hand, CEO of Super League Gaming (Nasdaq: SLGG), said titles such as “Fortnite” are resilient. “Gaming has proven itself to be fairly recession-proof,” she said. “In times of belt tightening, it is the smaller, affordable luxuries that endure.”

Epic Games has also been planning a headquarters expansion in Cary.

Original Post By: Triangle Business Journal