The quirky battle royale party game Fall Guys: Ultimate Knockout was the breakout indie hit of 2020, and now the game’s developer Mediatonic is being snapped up by another company that knows a thing or two about surprise battle royale success — Epic Games. Mediatonic has rapidly expanded from around 30 to more than 150 employees since the success of Fall Guys, and they plan to further grow the studio with Epic’s help. Here’s what Tonic Games Group CEO Dave Bailey had to say about joining the Epic Games stable.
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.
Meanwhile, here’s Epic CEO Tim Sweeney’s somewhat odd response…
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.
Epic buying the makers of Fall Guys isn’t that terribly surprising, as the game already kind of felt like something Epic might make. Epic should also be able to help Mediatonic achieve its goal of making Fall Guys a full, robust live service. Oh, and don’t worry, despite the new ownership, Fall Guys is not becoming an Epic Games Store exclusive – the game will still be available through Steam.
Fall Guys: Ultimate Knockout is available now on PC and PS4. Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S, Switch, and mobile versions are also in the works.
