Epic Games has announced the acquisition of Tonic Games Group, the creators of the smash-hit and huge popular Fall Guys: Ultimate Knockout. Apart from previous titles such as the Unreal and Gears of War franchises, and more recently, the Epic Games Store game distribution platform, Epic Games is best known for its battle royale game, Fortnite. The financial terms of the deal have not been disclosed, but it is the third party to join Epic Games’ roster.
Fall Guys will keep its original gameplay as it is, and Epic Games said in a blog post announcing the acquisition. It echoed Tonic Games’ statements from last month, stating that the game will be released for Nintendo Switch, Xbox, PC, and PlayStation in the near future.
However, since Fall Guys are built on the Unity Engine, which is a competitor to Epic Games’ own Unreal Engine, it will be interesting to see how it develops in the future.
In a separate blog post, both companies stated that they have no plans to make the game free-to-play. The PC version of Fall Guys, on the other hand, might be available on Epic Games Store at some point in the future.
“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. 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.” said in a press statement by Dave Bailey, Tonic Games Group Co-Founder and CEO.
Tim Sweeney, Epic Games Founder, and CEO 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.”
Fall Guys: Ultimate Knockout game recently became the most downloaded on PlayStation Plus and has over seven million Steam purchases. The game is based on classic TV shows such as Takeshi’s Castle and It’s a Knockout, in which players clumsily navigate through a series of life-or-death mini-games, bringing a breath of fresh air to the overcrowded battle royale gaming genre. Epic Games recently purchased Houseparty, a video calling app, as well as Psyonix, the creator of Rocket League, a football game in which players drive cars rather than humans.
