Epic Games Buys Fall Guys Creator Mediatonic

Epic Games today revealed it has purchased Tonic Games Group. This is the parent company of Mediatonic, the developers behind Fall Guys: Ultimate Knockout. The game is also apparently coming to the Epic Games Store later this year, though it will remain on Steam for the time being.

Epic Games announced the acquisition on Twitter. In addition to Mediatonic, parent company Tonic Games brings over Fortitude Games and The Irregular Corporation, the latter being one of the developers of PC Building Simulator. This is one of Epic’s larger acquisitions, and it’s been making a few of those lately. One of its last major buys was Psyonix, the developers of Rocket League — and given Fall Guys’ appeal as a party game, I’d put this at about the same level.

According to the FAQ, the acquisition won’t have any effect on the game’s availability — you’ll still be able to buy and play the game on Steam and PlayStation — though for how long it’ll remain on the former, Epic seems reluctant to say. The game is also still coming to Xbox and Nintendo Switch. Epic and Mediatonic at the moment have no plans to make the game free-to-play, even though Epic did that for Rocket League when it purchased Psyonix.

As for why it chose Epic, Mediatonic said the two companies share common values: “We’re focused on creating games that empower our players, create joy, and bring people together to have fun, and we couldn’t be more excited about the opportunities ahead.” Tim Sweeney, CEO of Epic Games, said, “It’s no secret that Epic is invested in building the metaverse and Tonic Games shares this goal. As Epic works to build this virtual future, we need great creative talent who know how to build powerful games, content and experiences.”

Source: Mediatonic