Endeavor to Sell Minority Stake in ‘Fortnite’ Developer Epic Games

Endeavor will remain the main marketer and distributor for Epic Games, sources familiar said

Fortnite tournament
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Endeavor Group will sell portion of its stake in “Fortnite” maker Epic Games, the talent holding company told TheWrap Wednesday.

Endeavor will remain a minority investor in the game developer after selling a portion of the investment and is looking to sell part of its stake in Epic Games, sources familiar with the matter told TheWrap.

Endeavor will remain the main marketing and distribution partner for Epic Games the source said — and continue to aid in producing events like the Fortnite World Cup, which it canceled this year amid concerns over the spreading COVID-19 virus.

“Fortnite,” Epic’s main game, is a massive multiplayer game for console, mobile and PC, and Epic said the game surpassed 350 million registers in May. Throughout April, “Fortnite” saw players engaged for 3.2 billion total hours.

Epic Games has raised roughly $1.6 billion since its 1991 launch, launch, according to funding database PitchBook Data Inc. Bloomberg reports the Tencent-backed game developer is looking to raise another funding round that could value the company far above the $15 billion valuation it hit after its most recent fund raise in October 2018.

Endeavor wouldn’t comment on prospective buyers of the stake in Epic Games or why it is choosing to sell now, while video game companies are gaining a swift uptick in both revenue and engagement thanks to COVID-19. The extra cash from a sale could be a welcome infusion for Endeavor, which is facing its own financial struggles — the firm laid off and furloughed roughly a third of its 7,500 nationwide employees in a bid to cut costs across its portfolio, which includes WME and IMG.

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