Japan’s Sony Group Corp. has invested an additional one billion dollars in Epic Games Inc., the developer of megahit online game Fortnite, the US company said Monday.

Epic also said it has received funding of one billion dollars from Kirkbi, the family-owned holding company behind the Lego Group of Denmark, as well.

Through the investments, the three firms hope to deepen cooperation on the development of “metaverse” virtual reality platforms.

Epic’s equity valuation after the investments stood at 31.5 billion dollars, up by around 10 percent from April last year.

Sony Group’s latest investment in Epic came after the Japanese firm invested in the US game developer in 2020 and again in 2021.

“As a creative entertainment company, we are thrilled to invest in Epic to deepen our relationship in the metaverse field, a space where creators and users share their time,” Sony Group Chairman and CEO Kenichiro Yoshida said in a statement.

JIJI Press