You know the saying, “Rome wasn’t built in a day?” Well, neither was Epic Games. Despite being an empire today, it was originally a company called Potomac Computer Systems, founded in Tim Sweeney’s parents’ house. Epic Games essentially developed alongside the modern video game industry, an industry that went through a remarkable evolution. And with the minds of CEO Sweeney and Vice President Mark Rein at the helm, it was only natural that the company would become something significant. 

What’s unique about Epic Games is that its team is made up of true innovators. They’ve revolutionized graphics and rendering in the broader entertainment industry with Unreal Engine, released one of the most groundbreaking games of all time, and developed an ecosystem of companies. Just as many casinos with a $10 minimum attract players, another reason why Epic became so popular is because of the launch of its online store, where it gives away games for free.

But how did Epic Games go from student-owned Potomac Computer Systems to a multimillion-dollar company?

The Early Days of Epic Games

Although he was in school for mechanical engineering, Sweeney already saw the potential of the fast-developing IT industry and started Potomac as a computer consulting business. With the intimidating workload on the horizon, however, he decided to use the company to release his action-adventure puzzle game, ZZT. Despite it being the early ‘90s, ZZT was ahead of its time. Tim clearly had an affinity for making games that were commercially successful.

With the brand-new video game company gaining traction, it needed a serious name to match. It soon became “Epic MegaGames” to sound all-important and grand. Sweeney quickly realized he couldn’t handle the newfound success on his own and joined forces with current co-owner Mark Rein. The company’s projects took off, with one of its shooting games published by Electronic Arts and the creation of the Unreal Engine technology. Eventually, the headquarters was moved to North Carolina, and the name of the business became Epic Games.

One of Epic Games’ most lucrative franchises, Gears of War, began earning its stripes among gamers, and the Unreal franchise was doing exceptionally well. Then, the game Fortnite was announced at the 2011 Spike Video Game Awards.

The Fortnite Phenomenon

Epic Games watched as the industry dramatically shifted to the games-as-a-service model (GaaS) that dominates the market today. While titles like World of Warcraft and Old School Runescape already offered subscription models back in the day, the idea of GaaS has taken on a new form. Fortnite was one of the games that emerged during this transformation, and boy, was it successful once it launched. 

Six years after it was announced to the public, Fortnite captivated the world. It harnessed the battle royale genre that everyone was beginning to fall in love with, and Fortnite Battle Royale garnered 125 million players in less than a year. At the year mark, Fortnite was making Epic Games well over $1 billion thanks to microtransactions—the new golden child of GaaS. 

To nurture Fortnite, as it very much deserved, Epic continued to support it by expanding to other platforms and launching new modes like a creative sandbox mode and Fortnite Experiences. Year after year, month after month, week after week, the company would release new patch updates, challenges, limited-time modes, cosmetics, and events that would hook in gamers again and again. Epic Games was on the rise—and the sky was the limit.

Partnerships and Bringing Key Studios on Board

What makes Epic so successful is its unyielding commitment to action. And we’re not talking about its video games. We’re talking about the fact that innovation is happening at all times, left, right, and center. It continued to develop Unreal Engine, released Epic Online Services for cross-platform play, developed a presence in the metaverse, and, most notably, partnered with big-name brands like Warner Bros.

The Walt Disney Company made a $1.5 billion investment, planning to co-develop new games and bring more Disney properties to Fortnite. Fortnite would be able to feature more and more cosmetics based on well-loved franchises like Marvel Comics and Star Wars.

In 2018, just after Fortnite went public, Epic acquired $1.25 billion in investment from seven firms. Then, it continued to snag other companies to its advantage, including Cloudgine (a cloud-based gaming software developer), Kamu (which produced anti-cheat software), and 3Lateral (known for digital human/motion capture creations). Every move simply made sense for Epic, which is precisely why it has been so unstoppable. Most recently, the company started to integrate music and sound-focused features and experiences into Fortnite, so it acquired Harmonix, the powerhouse behind the immensely popular Rock Band franchise. It built out all musical experiences in Fortnite, including the Fortnite Festival mode that mimicked the gameplay of Rock Band.

The Epic Journey Ahead

All these moves prove Epic Games to be an undying figure in the gaming world, and developments have signaled that its takeover of the metaverse is on its way. Other game development companies like Naughty Dog (Uncharted, Crash Bandicoot, The Last of Us) and Ubisoft (Tom Clancy, Assassin’s Creed) found success through massive franchises with multiple installments. Meanwhile, Epic has proven to be a unique player in the scene, capitalizing primarily on its one true winner and evolving it into a cultural phenomenon.

That’s right. Yes, Fortnite is popular, but we haven’t established just how popular it is. People do Fortnite emotes in real life, streamers make it a part of their identity, celebrities and big-name companies collaborate with the game for limited-time events, and it’s talked about all over social media and in the news. Fortnite has taken over pop culture, and whether or not you love it, you have Epic Games to thank for it.