Fortnite alone is on track to generate $2 billion this year, making Epic Games worth $5 billion to $8 billion, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index. Founder Tim Sweeney, 47, is the controlling shareholder.
Fortnite is a global phenomenon, played obsessively by children, rappers, professional athletes and middle-age accountants. It’s a cartoonish, last-character-standing, fight-to-the-death battle royale where players thrash one another in a struggle for weapons, resources and survival on a shrinking, storm-ravaged island.
Instead of shelling out upwards of $40 for the game, players buy online V-bucks, a virtual currency they can exchange during play for outfits, called skins, celebratory dances or special missions that can cost as much as $20 each.