Does EA own Fortnite? The Full Story Behind Epic Games‘ Battle Royale Phenomenon

No, Electronic Arts (EA) does not own the massively popular free-to-play battle royale game Fortnite. Fortnite is owned and developed exclusively by Epic Games, a private company headquartered in Cary, North Carolina.

The Rise of Epic Games and Fortnite

Founded in 1991, Epic Games spent its first decade focused on developing Unreal Engine, a powerful suite of game development tools used by studios worldwide. But in the 2010s, Epic began dedicating more resources into creating its own games, such as Gears of War and the building game phenomenon Fortnite.

Fortnite began life in 2011 as a cooperative survival game called Fortnite: Save the World. But after years in development, Epic took the advice of its developers and pivoted Fortnite into a 100-player last-man-standing battle royale game following the popularity of PubG and other similar titles.

The free-to-play Fortnite Battle Royale launched in September 2017 and quickly became an unprecedented success. Within two weeks over 10 million players had downloaded the game, and in June 2018, just 10 months after release, Fortnite hit a staggering 125 million players.

As of March 2022, Fortnite boasts over 350 million registered accounts worldwide. It‘s available on all major platforms including PlayStation, Xbox, PC, Android and iOS mobile devices.

Epic Games‘ Fortnite Revenue and Valuation

Fortnite has earned Epic Games billions in revenue through in-game microtransactions. Players purchase emotes, character skins and a seasonal Battle Pass to customize their characters and unlock rewards.

The two years following Fortnite‘s launch were its most profitable, with analyst estimates of over $9 billion in total revenue by the end of 2019. Epic Games itself is a private company and has not publicly released earning reports to verify these figures.

However, the runaway success of Fortnite has turned publisher Epic Games into the highest-valued private gaming company in the world. Recent investment rounds have valued the company at over $31.5 billion as of April 2022. For comparison, leading game publisher Electronic Arts (EA) has a market capitalization of around $35 billion and Activision Blizzard $60 billion as of March 2022.

Who Owns Epic Games and Fortnite?

Epic Games CEO and founder Tim Sweeney remains the controlling shareholder of Epic Games with over 50 percent ownership.

Chinese tech conglomerate Tencent acquired a 40 percent minority stake in Epic Games back in 2012 for $330 million, well before Fortnite was released. This investment has proved incredibly lucrative for Tencent.

In 2020, Sony invested $250 million for a 1.4 percent stake in Epic Games, with a further $750 million planned in 2022 on top of their existing $250 million investment in 2021. This gives Sony a minority equity share of Fortnite‘s massive profits.

Epic Games is expected to go public eventually, but founder Tim Sweeney has indicated no rush to take the company public or sell controlling interest.

Epic Games vs Apple Lawsuit

Epic Games has leveraged Fortnite‘s popularity in an ongoing legal battle against tech giants. In August 2020, Epic intentionally broke Apple‘s App Store rules by offering direct in-app purchases on iOS devices. This led to Fortnite‘s removal from the App Store.

Epic Games then sued Apple alleging anticompetitive behavior over its 30% commission fees. A 10-day California court trial was held in May 2021, and the judge ruled in favor of Apple on 9 out of 10 counts, determining Apple has the right to charge commissions and control its own app ecosystem. However, the court did find Apple violated antitrust law by preventing developers from linking to alternative payment systems. [1]

Epic has appealed the decision and continues to fight Apple over fair and open platforms and lower fees. Fortnite remains banned from the iOS App Store, costing Epic Games millions in lost revenue.

Epic Games Store vs Steam

Epic‘s dispute with Apple is tied to the December 2018 launch of the Epic Games Store, a digital PC game storefront looking to challenge Valve‘s market-leading Steam service.

Epic Games Store takes just a 12% cut of game revenue compared to Steam‘s 30% cut. It also provides bigger incentives for exclusive game releases. Epic has attracted major titles like Borderlands 3, Control and Grand Theft Auto V to release on EGS instead of Steam.

However, Epic Games Store still lags far behind Steam in total users. As of March 2022, Steam has 120 million monthly active users compared to just 61 million on EGS. Revenue numbers are not public. [2]

Epic is investing hundreds of millions of dollars to expand its digital ecosystem across game development, distribution and services. The company is even developing its own Epic Games metaverse platform to take on Meta.

EA Sports Games on Epic Games Store

While EA does not own Epic Games or Fortnite, the two companies partnered in 2019 to bring EA games to the Epic Games Store on PC. This includes hit titles like Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order, FIFA soccer games, Madden NFL, The Sims 4 and Apex Legends.

EA‘s leading title, FIFA 23, was exclusive to Epic Games Store on PC when it launched in September 2022. This partnership gives Epic and EA access to each other‘s vast player networks on PC.

The availability of EA sports games on EGS shows they aim to co-exist rather than compete directly as digital storefronts. However, Fortnite does go head-to-head with EA‘s Apex Legends as leading battle royale titles. Apex hit 100 million players by 2021 but still lags behind Fortnite. [3]

The Key to Fortnite‘s Success

What made Fortnite into such an unprecedented success? Several factors came together perfectly:

• Free-to-play model: Allowing anyone to download and play without upfront cost removes barriers to entry. Microtransactions provide revenue.

• Multi-platform: Launching Fortnite on consoles, PC, and mobile gave it one unified player base.

• Cartoonish visual style: The colorful, family-friendly art style appeals to kids and adults alike.

• Continuous updates: Epic maintains buzz with fresh seasons, narrative events, new weapons and map changes every few months.

• Celebrity promotions: Holo concerts, player cameos, and pop culture tie-ins keeps Fortnite highly relevant.

• Accessibility: Intuitive building mechanics and gunplay with auto-fire makes it easy for anyone to jump in.

Fortnite took the basic battle royale format and added an addicting meta-game loop of challenges and cosmetic rewards. The social experience of playing with friends fuels the fun. It became a vibrant virtual hangout bringing together gaming and mainstream pop culture.

The Bottom Line

While publishers like EA, Activision and Ubisoft produce some of the top-selling game franchises, Epic Games‘ Fortnite now reigns as the most successful cross-platform game of all time. And with founder Tim Sweeney maintaining control, Tencent, Sony and others can only hope to profit from Epic‘s continued success.

Fortnite has earned Epic Games a valuation that rivals the industry‘s longstanding publicly traded giants. It has hundreds of millions of active players and remains deeply ingrained in pop culture worldwide. So while rivals like Apex Legends may contend for the battle royale crown, Fortnite remains the king.