Fortnite maker to buy British firm behind hit game Fall Guys

3 March 2021, 09:14

Tonic Games and Epic Games logos
fall guys. Picture: PA

Epic Games has confirmed it is acquiring Tonic Games Group, the company behind popular party game Fall Guys.

Fortnite maker Epic Games is to buy the firm behind Fall Guys, the British-made game that has become widely popular since its launch last year.

Epic confirmed it planned to acquire Tonic Games Group, the parent company of Mediatonic, the developer of Fall Guys: Ultimate Knockout.

Fall Guys has proven to be one of the most popular game launches of 2020, receiving praise from gamers and critics alike for its multiplayer, battle-royale-style matches inspired by TV shows such as It’s A Knockout.

Epic Games has become one of the biggest developer studios in the world thanks to the rise of Fortnite, which has built up a player base of several hundred million users.

“It’s no secret that Epic is invested in building the metaverse and Tonic Games shares this goal,” Epic founder and chief executive Tim Sweeney said of the announcement.

“As Epic works to build this virtual future, we need great creative talent who know how to build powerful games, content and experiences.”

In its own blog post on the news, Mediatonic said joining Epic Games will “accelerate our plans to improve the game and bring Fall Guys to as many players as possible, while continuing to support the community”.

“At Tonic Games Group we often say that ‘everyone deserves a game that feels like it was made for them.’ With Epic, we feel like we have found a home that was made for us,” Tonic Games Group boss Dave Bailey said.

“They share our mission to build and support games that have a positive impact, empower others and stand the test of time and we couldn’t be more excited to be joining forces with their team.”

By Press Association

More Technology News

See more More Technology News

A teenager uses his mobile phone to access social media,

Social media users ‘won’t be forced to share personal details after child ban’

Google Antitrust Remedies

US regulators seek to break up Google and force Chrome sale

Jim Chalmers gestures

Australian government rejects Musk’s claim it plans to control internet access

Graphs showing outages across Microsoft

Microsoft outage hits Teams and Outlook users

The Google logon on the screen of a smartphone

Google faces £7 billion legal claim over search engine advertising

A person holds an iphone showing the app for Google chrome search engine

Apple and Google ‘should face investigation over mobile browser duopoly’

UK unveils AI cyber defence lab to combat Russian threats, as minister pledges unwavering support for Ukraine

British spies to ramp up fight against Russian cyber threats with launch of cutting-edge AI research unit

Pat McFadden

UK spies to counter Russian cyber warfare threat with new AI security lab

Openreach van

Upgrade to Openreach ultrafast full fibre broadband ‘could deliver £66bn boost’

Laptop with a virus warning on the screen

Nato countries are in a ‘hidden cyber war’ with Russia, says Liz Kendall

Pat McFadden

Russia prepared to launch cyber attacks on UK, minister to warn

A Google icon on a smartphone

Firms can use AI to help offset Budget tax hikes, says Google UK boss

Icons of social media apps, including Facebook, Instagram, YouTube and WhatsApp, are displayed on a mobile phone screen

Growing social media app vows to shake up ‘toxic’ status quo

Will Guyatt questions who is responsible for the safety of children online

Are Zuckerberg and Musk responsible for looking after my kids online?

Social media apps on a phone

U16s social media ban punishes children for tech firm failures, charities say

Google shown on a smartphone

US Government proposes forcing Google to sell Chrome to break-up tech empire