Author: Ginny Hendricksen Updated on: May 16, 2024
Epic Games is a pre-IPO video game and software developer based in Cary, North Carolina.
A few of the company’s top games are Fortnite, Alan Wake, League of Legends and Grand Theft Auto. Fortnite gained 10 million gamers in the first 2 weeks after its launch.
The company’s strategy has been to bring in new users letting them play games for free, which has helped them successful grown their user base. Epic Games then leverages these users to earn revenue from in-app purchases.
Epic Games publishes games through its online store, Epic Games Store (ESG), where users can buy games. Last year ESG offered a grand total of 2900 different titles. By 2023, the company had over than 270 million Epic Games Store PC users, which was 40,000 more than the preceding year.
PC players on the EGS brought in $970 million in 2023 plus players on third-party games brought in $310 million. Comparatively in 2022, Epic Games earned $820 million from PC gamers, and $355 million from 3rd-party PC gamers through their store.
Epic Games is a leader in the gaming industry but has privately held companies and public companies to contend with, like EA, Riot Games, Dream Games, and Animoca Brands.
Epic Games has acquired a number of video game companies including: Aquiris, Capturing Reality, Tonic Games Group, Cubic Motion, Hypersense, Sketchfab.
Epic Games expanded to offer Unreal Engine, an open-sourced 3D gaming engine or creation tool. UE can be useful for game development, film creation, architecture, transportation, broadcasting, etc.
The company partners with well-known brands and celebrities like Chris Pratt, Aria Grande, the NFL, Marvel Studios, and Balenciaga for marketing events and to offer additional game enhancements.
Yes. Epic Games is a private venture-backed company that has raised funds over 6 rounds. Investors usually get preferred stock and employees typically get common stock options or restricted stock units, however Epic Games only issues common stock.
Epic Games stock is not publicly listed on the NASDAQ or NYSE stock exchanges. Its stock has no stock ticker or symbol associated with it. Epic Games is not available for purchase by retail investors and is not available through traditional brokerage accounts.
Retail investors looking to side-invest in Epic Games stock may choose to invest in funds which hold Epic Games stock, such as: TenCent (TCEHY), VanEck Video Gaming and eSports ETF (ESPO), Global X Video Games and eSports ETF (HERO).
Accredited investors are permitted to buy Epic Games stock pre-IPO. Epic Games is ranked #2 on Notice’s most actively traded companies list.
Private market transactions can be complex and often involve company approvals, legal purchase agreements and wires to third parties. Trades can take 30 - 60 days to complete and that's why many investors hire experienced private market brokers to ensure things go smoothly.
Notice members can message expert brokers for free to learn more about buying and selling private stocks.
Epic Games will appear in the Notice stock ticker if it has recent private market activity.
Because Epic Games is a privately-held company, it does not have to release financial information like public companies do.
Epic Games makes revenue from in-game upgrades, royalty fees, and licensing fees. Reports show that Epic has enjoyed steady growth in revenue from $5.7 billion in 2021 to $6.3 billion in 2022.
Even though Epic Games made over $1 billion from PC gamers, as of late 2023, the company had not yet turned a profit. There is room for future growth; experts project the online game market to reach $32.56 billion by 2027.
Epic Game’s last round valuation was $22.5 billion in February of this year, in which Disney invested $1.5 billion in the company, taking a 7% stake. This 2024 valuation was a drop from $31.5 billion in its prior round in 2022.
Epic Games is ranked #22 most valuable companies on Notice and #5 on Notice’s most funded companies list. ****
Earlier institutional investors in Epic Games include Sony Corporation, Kirkbi, Fidelity, Baillie Gifford, T. Rowe Price, Lightspeed, Smash Capital, Franklin Templeton, BlackRock and others.
CEO Tim Sweeney retains a significant ownership stake estimated to be 41% in 2024.
You can track Epic Games stock price live on the stock price chart above.
Although many sources have regularly speculated on an upcoming Epic Games IPO for years, the company has not started the process. Epic has not announced an official IPO date or filed a registration statement Form S-1 with the SEC.
Current company filings clearly state that a qualified public offering (including IPO, SPAC or Direct Listing) must meet company mandated minimum criteria.
For example, Epic Games's must make at least $100,000,000 in aggregate gross proceeds from the sale of its shares in an IPO. The public offering Epic Games stock price or target reference price can not be less than $10.74427 per share.
Sweeney has not made any official statement about plans to exit. The company has attracted considerable funding which may explain why there has been no rush to IPO.
As operation stand now, it may be possible for Epic Games to stay private for the long term. However, Sweeney may decide to take Epic Games public to give liquidity to employees and shareholders in the future.