Epic Games, developer of the popular computer game Fortnite, recently acquired the music platform Bandcamp.
Bandcamp CEO Ethan Diamond announced the acquisition in a March 2nd tweet. “I’m excited to announce that Bandcamp is joining Epic Games, who you may know as the makers of Fortnite and Unreal Engine, and champions for a fair and open internet,” wrote Diamond. He went on to express excitement at having Epic’s resources available to “bring a lot more benefit to the artists, labels, and fans who use the site.”
Details about the merger, including the price tag, are scarce. Diamond reassured Bandcamp users that they will continue operating as a standalone marketplace and community with him remaining as leader. With Epic’s help, he wrote, the company will expand internationally, add more services to its existing tool suite, and offer new benefits such as vinyl pressing and live streaming.
The news comes after Bandcamp added consecutive, uninterrupted streaming to its mobile app.
Founded in 1991 in Maryland, Epic Games is the developer behind Unreal Engine, a graphics engine that powers numerous modern AAA video games. Chinese multimedia and entertainment conglomerate Tencent owns 40% of the American developer. It also holds minor stakes in Spotify, thereby loosely associating the two competing DSPs under the same umbrella.
