Epic Games have acquired Tonic Games Group, the parent company for Mediatonic, the developers of 2020’s smash hit party game Fall Guys: Ultimate Knockout.
Tonic Games have found a ‘home’ with Epic Games, and said the two companies share each others’ vision for Fall Guys, and similar titles, in regards to long-term development.
“At Tonic Games Group we often say that ‘everyone deserves a game that feels like it was made for them.’” Tonic Games Group Co-Founder and CEO, Dave Bailey said. “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.”
Gonna earn all the Crowns in @FallGuysGame now! Welcome to the Epic Family @Mediatonic and FallGuys 🎉 https://t.co/EjXDjPIMyB
— Fortnite (@FortniteGame) March 2, 2021
As far as Fall Guys goes, Epic said that “gameplay isn’t changing,” but fans can expect the publisher to push its strategy for building a ‘metaverse’ through the party game while adding highly-requested features.
“It’s no secret that Epic is invested in building the metaverse and Tonic Games shares this goal,” Epic Games Founder and CEO, Tim Sweeney said explained. “As Epic works to build this virtual future, we need great creative talent who know how to build powerful games, content and experiences.”
This could include lucrative collaborations like Epic Games’ other suite of titles such as Fortnite and Rocket League who’ve embarked on major commercial collaborations that span the Marvel Cinematic Universe and the Ford F-150, among many others.
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Fall Guys already has skins for popular creators like Mr Beast and Ninja, with other cosmetics for Steam’s Half-Life: Alyx.
A Fortnite and Fall Guys content crossover was previously leaked, giving a better idea of Epic’s plan to build out a metaverse with their newest property as soon as possible.
Tonic Games will also be working to get features like “account systems, cross-play, squad vs squad modes” and more to Fall Guys.
Fall Guys is currently available on PlayStation and PC via Steam and Microsoft Store. The company is set to release the game on Nintendo Switch and Xbox in mid-2021, and an Epic Games Store launch is now expected.
PC players will still be able to play and get regular updates for Fall Guys on Steam, though language suggests it will make a transition to the Epic Games Store soon.