Though the PUBG craze is sweeping India, the rest of the world is really into Fortnite. Like, a lot. To the point where the developer made a profit of $3 billion last year, more than Infosys.
And the CEO of the company himself is now worth over $7 billion.
Tim Sweeney (L) with Epic Games business head Joe Kreiner - Image courtesy: Tim Sweeney/Twitter
Tim Sweeney, CEO of Epic Games, is all of a sudden number 195 on the Bloomberg 500 richest people list. Though the man hasn't yet confirmed the number himself, it's based off his supposed stock sale during a recent round of fundraising. And despite a number of games under the company belt, it's largely thanks to Fortnite.
The exact number is estimated to be around $7.16 billion, higher than established names like George Soros, George Lucas, and Marc Benioff.
Also Read:?5 Reasons Why Fortnite Is Clearly A Better Overall Game Than PUBG
This is really impressive because Fortnite is free-to-play, with no need to purchase the game or pay a subscription fee. It does sell an in-game currency called 'V-bucks', that you have to pay real money to get. But there's nothing to spend on that will give you an advantage in game, just aesthetic upgrades like skins, emotes, and the dances to taunt your enemies. Yet, it's 200 million-strong playerbase has continued to buy the currency across all of its platforms, whether console, PC, or mobile.
Sweeney has put in the work over the years though, to get to where he is. Aside from Fortnite, Epic Games is also the team behind the Unreal Engine game development platform. And the latest move for the company is ambitious too. They're opening their own online game store to rival that of others like Steam and GOG.