Fortnite maker to buy British firm behind hit game Fall Guys

Epic Games has become one of the biggest developer studios in the world. Picture: Epic Games

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.”