Epic Games worth $8 billion following Fortnite success

Fortnite is taking Epic Games to new heights, with a recent valuation revealing the company is worth up to $8 billion.

The figure comes from Bloomberg's analysis of the gaming phenomenon, with the site's Billionaires Index placing Epic's value between $5 billion and $8 billion. Of course, this is based on all of the firm's business, including the Unreal Engine, but with Fortnite on course to generate $2 billion this year, it's safe to say the Battle Royale game is a major factor.

It's a significant jump from the $825 million Epic was valued at when Tencent purchased its 40 per cent stake back in 2012.

The report suggests that, based on the trading multiples of major publishers such as Electronic Arts and Activision Blizzard, Epic Games could be worth as much as $14 billion if it were put up for sale. One analyst added that even if Fortnite lost momentum, only generating $1 billion per year, Epic could still be sold for $7.5 billion.

Bloomberg adds that the growth of both Fortnite and Epic Games has made CEO and founder Tim Sweeney, the controlling shareholder, a billionaire.

The success of Fortnite itself has been well documented - most recently with the revelation that daily mobile revenues reached $2 million, and that since launch the Battle Royale game has generated more than $1 billion from in-app purchases alone. But it's interesting to see the overall impact on its developer.

Earlier this month we saw a good indication of how much Epic is benefitting from the growth of Fortnite as it reduced its cut from sales made through the Unreal Engine Marketplace. Not only has it dropped its share of each purchase from 30% to 12%, it has also applied this retroactively, meaning a welcome windfall for any developers using the platform.