Epic Games

Epic Games is an American video game developer based in Cary, North Carolina.

The company was founded in 1991 by Tim Sweeny and was known as Potomac Computer Systems. Originally, it was based in Maryland, in Tim’s parents’ house, before moving to a studio in Cary.

ZZT was the company’s first commercial video game release, and following this, it became Epic MegaGames, Inc. before it changed its name again in 1999 following its move to a full headquarters.

Epic Games owns the game developers Harmonix, Mediatonic, and Psyonix.

Epic Games developed Unreal Engine, a game engine that powers internally developed video games like Fortnite and Gears of War. 

Epic was awarded the British Academy of Film and Television Arts Special Award in June 2019 for its developments for the Unreal Engine, as well as the Engineering Excellence Award from the Hollywood Professional Association.

Tencent owns a share of Epic Games, although Tim Sweeney is still the leading shareholder. This investment allowed Epic Games to focus on the games-as-a-service model.