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[v_iHuGi]

“Epic continues to deliver revolutionary experiences through their array of cutting edge technologies that support creators in gaming and across the digital entertainment industry. We are excited to strengthen our collaboration to bring new entertainment experiences to people around the world. I strongly believe that this aligns with our purpose to fill the world with emotion, through the power of creativity and technology,” said Kenichiro Yoshida, Chairman, President and CEO, Sony Group Corporation.

Announcing a New Funding Round of $1 Billion to Support Epic’s Long-Term Vision for the Metaverse

Epic Games announces a new round of $1 billion in funding to help develop the long-term vision for the Metaverse. Sony Group Corporation and a host of investment partners are supporting Epic’s growth.

www.epicgames.com

 

[Bittermich]

More Sony exclusive games day one on EGS. Nice.

 

[Cert.in.Death]

That’s a lot of V-bucks

 

[cormack12]

Why would Sony be doing this when they don't really use Unreal Engine? Someone pls explain.

 

[LisaMariaMartin]

Why would Sony be doing this when they don't really use Unreal Engine? Someone pls explain.

This isn't SIE, this is Sony as a whole. I suspect their movie division is the primary driver for this. Unreal Engine for movies in the future?

 

[CurtBizzy]

Why would Sony be doing this when they don't really use Unreal Engine? Someone pls explain.

Unreal Engine 5

 

[dibella360]

Here is what 200 million gets you

 

[Bernd Lauert]

Why would Sony be doing this when they don't really use Unreal Engine? Someone pls explain.

It's a marketing move. Epic will keep showing tech demos exclusively on the PS5, which means a ton of hype and good press for Playstation. It's a good move imo.

 

[drotahorror]

If Sony puts more PC ports out AND they end up EGS exclusive, they'll see that it definitely wasn't worth the investment. HZD doing well on Steam is because it's on Steam. It would have flopped on EGS.

 

[cormack12]

This isn't SIE, this is Sony as a whole. I suspect their movie division is the primary driver for this. Unreal Engine for movies in the future?

ah ok yeah - that makes sense from a movie perspective.

 

[Interfectum]

It's a marketing move. Epic will keep showing tech demos exclusively on the PS5, which means a ton of hype and good press for Playstation. It's a good move imo.

It also ensures Unreal Engine 5 has deep support for PS5 and opens up potential roads for Sony Pictures and Music.

 

[StreetsofBeige]

Insomniac was $229M. Epic is another $200M, making it $450M.

As Sony execs said before..... More PC games coming.

 

[EverydayBeast]

Investing in Epic Games makes Xbox fanboys sick.

 

[yurinka]

This isn't SIE, this is Sony as a whole. I suspect their movie division is the primary driver for this. Unreal Engine for movies in the future?

Yup, even Disney did use Unreal to make Mandalorian.

Why would Sony be doing this when they don't really use Unreal Engine? Someone pls explain.

They are investing on the company who makes the super successful Fortnite and the most popular -by far- game engine, engine that now is also becoming popular to make movies and tv shows.

Some Sony published games use it, like Days Gone. And the thing is, most PS 3rd party devs use it, which means it's strategical to secure future good support for games, but also for their movies and TV part. Their PC store also seems promising and interesting, and helps to reduce Steam and possible future MS monopoly on the PC stores.

 

[DrAspirino]

This isn't SIE, this is Sony as a whole. I suspect their movie division is the primary driver for this. Unreal Engine for movies in the future?

I wouldn't be surprised. Lucas Films already used Unreal Engine in "The Mandalorian" TV series with excellent results. Every green-screen scenery was rendered in real time using UE.

 

[Derktron]

Next thing you know, Sony has a deal with Epic Games to release games on the Epic Games Store as a timed-exclusive.

 

[Zeroing]

Why would Sony be doing this when they don't really use Unreal Engine? Someone pls explain.

I have no idea but Sony is not just PlayStation. Maybe it’s related to not only video games?!

 

[Kerotan]

It's a marketing move. Epic will keep showing tech demos exclusively on the PS5, which means a ton of hype and good press for Playstation. It's a good move imo.

Don't forget the value of epic will continue to increase so it's probably a good investment either way. I bet Sony regret not buying shares a few years ago.

 

[SLB1904]

It's a marketing move. Epic will keep showing tech demos exclusively on the PS5, which means a ton of hype and good press for Playstation. It's a good move imo.

God the op is even that long.

 

[BattleScar]

Why would Sony be doing this when they don't really use Unreal Engine? Someone pls explain.

Aside from Unreal being used for films/TV shows etc. Why would it not be useful to invest heavily in an engine that will undoubtedly be widely used by 3rd Party Developers and ensure there are toolkits available to make it easier to use UE5 to make games for PlayStation. That's a reasonably sound business strategy.

 

[CurtBizzy]

https://www.gamesradar.com/epic-reveals-how-its-been-working-with-sony-for-years-on-unreal-engine-5/

 

[ethomaz]

Why would Sony be doing this when they don't really use Unreal Engine? Someone pls explain.

Because the Unreal Engine is used by most developers in the industry and Epic is doing optimizations to PS5 features.
BTW Epic and Sony are working together with Unreal Engine 5.

 

[ShinraMiddleMananger]

Why would Sony be doing this when they don't really use Unreal Engine? Someone pls explain.

This is where they will park their AA games going forward

 

[Shanomatic]

Beyond marketing, I'm curious as to the tangible benefits this heavy of an investment brings to Playstation consumers.

I know that Unreal has applications to movies and such, although that seems beyond the scope of gaming discussion. Having tech demos done on your console is nice and all but will this result in any meaningful content? I have my doubts.

 

[Dr.Morris79]

It's a marketing move. Epic will keep showing tech demos exclusively on the PS5, which means a ton of hype and good press for Playstation. It's a good move imo.

So they can afford this shit but close the Ps3/Psvita stores?

Cheers Sony.

 

[VFXVeteran]

I wouldn't be surprised if all the Sony bought companies (i.e. ND, SSM, GG, etc..) will adopt UE in the future for all of their games. That would make total sense with the porting to PC platforms happening now. We might be looking at day and date PC releases with PS next-generation (i.e. PS6+).

 

[Reizo Ryuu]

Every green-screen scenery was rendered in real time using UE.

The volume is a virtual set with active screens, not green screens.

 

[harmny]

I wouldn't be surprised. Lucas Films already used Unreal Engine in "The Mandalorian" TV series with excellent results. Every green-screen scenery was rendered in real time using UE.

Correct but it wasn't green screen at all. It is actually a real time render of the background on a giant screen. That's actually the point. Avoiding the use of green screen

 

[rodrigolfp]

Yes. More Sony money put in to free games on EGS.

 

[onesvenus]

Aside from Unreal being used for films/TV shows etc. Why would it not be useful to invest heavily in an engine that will undoubtedly be widely used by 3rd Party Developers and ensure there are toolkits available to make it easier to use UE5 to make games for PlayStation. That's a reasonably sound business strategy.

Yup, in fact, what I don't understand is why Microsoft is not there. They extensively use UE and it's in their best interest to have the biggest engine working great in their console.

 

[MiguelItUp]

Epic doesn't need any money, they're just fine, lmao.

But hey, if this gets us more cool free games on EGS, then hey, I'm down!

Sony should've bribed them saying they'd invest if they continued working on Unreal Tournament too.

 

[toxiichollow]

Yup, in fact, what I don't understand is why Microsoft is not there. They extensively use UE and it's in their best interest to have the biggest engine working great in their console.

Microsoft doesn’t really do investments, they rather buy out the company, and I expect in the coming years most of MS studios will transition to id Tech.

 

[Shanomatic]

Yup, in fact, what I don't understand is why Microsoft is not there. They extensively use UE and it's in their best interest to have the biggest engine working great in their console.

I wonder if idTech will be retooled/built upon to have a become an engine that can be used for more types of games internally. I have little knowledge on the feasibility of such a thing, but on paper it seems like a no-brainer; idTech is one of the best engines out there right now, and it'd end the reliance on Epic.

 

[CurtBizzy]

Can't wait for Unreal Engine 5

 

[Alright]

This investment is epic

 

[M1chl]

Investing in Epic Games makes Xbox fanboys sick.

I had to went to ICU because of that, disgusting, can resume not watching internet for next few days.

 

[Arun1910]

But hey, if this gets us more cool free games on EGS, then hey, I'm down!

This is honestly the only thing I like about Epics Store.

I've managed to get GTAV, Rage 2, Star Wars Battlefront 2, Metro Redux, Alien Isolation and a few other decent games just by having the Launcher. Can't really complain about that aspect of Epic.

 

[cormack12]

I wouldn't be surprised if all the Sony bought companies (i.e. ND, SSM, GG, etc..) will adopt UE in the future for all of their games. That would make total sense with the porting to PC platforms happening now. We might be looking at day and date PC releases with PS next-generation (i.e. PS6+).

How hard will that be - is it likely there is specific stuff in custom engines that just aren't there in UE or is it just a case of all the features will be there, it will just be a case of how to use them and their efficacy?

 

[Chessmate]

What a shame. With that kind of money Sony could have easily made a Little Big Planet show on Netflix and a remake of Uncharted 4 for PS5.

 

[BaneIsPain]

Bloodborne is Epic exclusive.

 

[StreetsofBeige]

What a shame. With that kind of money Sony could have easily made a Little Big Planet show on Netflix and a remake of Uncharted 4 for PS5.

Insomniac was bought for $229M. Sony could have bought an entire studio.

 

[Skifi28]

Bloodborne is Epic exclusive.

It would suck, but I can live with it.

 

[SJRB]

Money well spent, lol

]Even though this is peanuts for a megacorp like Sony]

 

[chinoXL]

How hard will that be - is it likely there is specific stuff in custom engines that just aren't there in UE or is it just a case of all the features will be there, it will just be a case of how to use them and their efficacy?

i dunno how likely this is. i think every Sony 1st party outside of Days Gone uses custom engine(s) that the ICE team all collab on as far as i know. pretty sure its been this way since the PS3 era. BUT having this engine run optimized on PS5 makes it easier on the 2nd and 3rd party titles. also the TV and Movie benefits are huge. UE was perfect for the Mando series

 

[Mike Zhang]

Maybe Sony wants to work with Epic on a GP solution?

 

[MonarchJT]

sony Unless they all want to go back to day 0 they will never leave their custom engines. this is about movies

 

[Skifi28]

Maybe Sony wants to work with Epic on a GP solution?

That would be the opposite of epic. meh

 

[v_iHuGi]

So they can afford this shit but close the Ps3/Psvita stores?

Cheers Sony.

They can afford what will bring massive money in the long haul.

That´s why they didn´t make their streaming services and are now in bed with Netflix, Sony is a business and their end goal is very different from Sony 2005.

This is a monster Sony that will break 500B in valuation within years & have over 100B cash on hand in no time.

Do i like this Sony? Absolutely NOT!

Does it make sense? Absolutely!

Would i rather see Sony Ps3? Yes, risky projects and games like Warhawk or MAG, no Mobile focus & tons of studios and freedom across the board.

Will it happen? Fuck no.

 

[Lethal01]

Having tech demos done on your console is nice and all but will this result in any meaningful content? I have my doubts.

There is no doubt that them choosing PS5 as the first console to show of UE5 on isn't a sign of strong support and optimization foe UE on PS5

 

[jroc74]

It's a marketing move. Epic will keep showing tech demos exclusively on the PS5, which means a ton of hype and good press for Playstation. It's a good move imo.

Its a lil more than a marketing move.....

This goes beyond games.