Epic Games Buys Fall Guys Dev Mediatonic, Expanding Its Battle Royale Empire

Fall Guys developer Mediatonic has been acquired by Fortnite studio Epic Games, expanding the North Carolina developer's battle royale empire even further and paving the way for Epic's vision of a "metaverse" of sorts--not to mention the "tremendous growth potential," according to Tonic Games co-founder Paul Croft. How exactly that "growth" will play out for both Fall Guys and Fortnite remains to be seen, but the powers behind both companies seem optimistic. Both are hit battle royale games with a similar style and tone, so a crossover may not be out of the question.

"Huge news! Mediatonic are pleased to announce that we've joined the Epic Games family," the UK studio said on Twitter. Separately, Epic Games confirmed in a blog post that it acquired the entire Tonic Games Group, which is the parent company of Mediatonic.

    HUGE NEWS!@Mediatonic are pleased to announce that we've joined the @EpicGames family!
    What does this mean? I'm glad you asked!
    FAQ:https://t.co/QpiEHemUca pic.twitter.com/ZcGaoooljz
    — Fall Guys 4041 🤖 SOON (@FallGuysGame) March 2, 2021

What does this all mean for Fall Guys? "Your gameplay isn't changing and Epic will continue to invest in making the game a great experience for players across platforms," Epic said. "Your favorite colorful beans will still stumble through the chaos on PC, PlayStation, and soon Nintendo Switch and Xbox."

After Epic Games bought Rocket League studio Psyonix, the game went free-to-play and was removed from Steam in favor of the Epic Games Store. For now at least, Fall Guys remains a paid game and continues to be available for purchase on Steam.

"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," Tonic Games Group co-founder and CEO Dave Bailey said in a statement.

Tonic Games Group co-founder and chief games officer Paul Croft added that he sees "tremendous growth potential" for combining with Epic.

"Whether it's about making our own games the best they can be or empowering other game developers to take their content from a kernel of an idea to commercial success, we know that together we will be able to reach greater heights," Croft said.

Epic Games CEO Tim Sweeney also had a statement on the buyout.

"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," he said.

The acquisition of Tonic Games Group is just the latest big buyout of a game studio by Epic, as the company previously acquired Rocket League studio Psyonix.

Outside of game studios themselves, Epic has in recent years acquired companies like the middleware company RAD and the developers of the Houseparty app.

Epic Games is a private company so it does not usually disclose the financial terms of its business dealings, so we don't know how much Epic paid for Tonic Games.