Epic Games Stock: When Will Epic Games IPO?
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Table of Contents
Notable Epic Games News
02/08/2024: Disney Deal Values Epic at $22.5 Billion, 7% stake
02/07/2024: Disney and Epic Games Epic Partnership
12/11/2023: Epic Games wins antitrust lawsuit against Google
11/08/2023: Google offered Epic $147 million
Older news…
About Epic Games
Epic Games is a video game company based in Cary, NC. It’s best known as the creator of the first-person shooter game Fortnite, one of the 10 most popular online games globally, with more than 500 million registered users.
Fortnite is free to play, but the company makes money from in-app purchases (that do not give players an advantage).
Since its founding, the company has created more than 50 games. It also owns and maintains the Unreal Engine, a game development software framework for other game developers.
Epic Games was founded in 1991 by Tim Sweeney.
Disney acquired a $1.5 billion stake in Epic Games in early 2024 and plans to build immersive online worlds utilizing its brands like Star Wars, Marvel, and Frozen.
Ownership
Founder and CEO Tim Sweeney is the primary owner of the company. At one point, his stake was more than 50%, but sources have estimated his stake to be about 28%.
Tencent Holdings (TCEHY), the Chinese conglomerate and largest video game company worldwide, purchased a 40% equity stake in Epic Games in 2012.
Disney purchased a $1.5 billion stake in Epic Games in February 2024. Based on pre-IPO market data and reporting that has come to light since the purchase, Disney’s Epic Games stake is worth 7% of the company.
Other shareholders include early investors, employees, and venture capital firms, including Baillie Gifford, Fidelity, Lightspeed Venture Partners, the Ontario Teachers’ Pension Plan Board, T. Rowe Price, Blackrock, David Tepper, KKR, Sony, Smash Ventures, and KIRKBI (holding company of The Lego Group).
IPO Potential
The Epic Games IPO date is currently unknown. The company’s founder and CEO owns around 28%. So it will likely not go public until he says so.
As private demand for ownership remains high, Epic Games does not need to go public in the immediate future.
However, as Epic Games has increased its equity shareholders to include more venture capital firms, a future IPO is more likely so private investors can cash out, unlike the gaming company Valve who we expect to remain private indefinitely.
Private investors are patient but will eventually need liquidity.
We won’t get a better idea of the IPO date until one of these things happen:
- The company hires an investment bank
- The Epic Games IPO date range leaks to the financial press
- The SEC releases a publicly-available Epic Games S-1 filing
Typically, with a high-profile company of this size, reports of intent to have an IPO will leak to the press a year or two ahead of the IPO.
Even when the company and SEC publicly release the S-1 filing, we still won’t know a firm date. However, the IPO date typically occurs a month or two after the S-1 is released to the public.
Valuation
The Epic Games valuation was reported as $22.5 billion, based on the Disney investment in February 2024.
The previous confirmed valuation was $31.5 billion ($900 per share) during the April 2022 Series H raise.
Private transactions on the Hiive marketplace that occurred in Q3 2024 values Epic Games at closer to $15 billion.
How to Buy Epic Games Stock
It’s normally a challenge to acquire shares of a stock that are not yet trading on the public markets. It is possible, but you may not be eligible, and it may not be worth the hassle.
However, there are a few ways to own Epic Games before the IPO and potentially others if you monitor pre-IPO marketplaces.
1. Acquire Epic Games Shares Pre-IPO
Founders, early employees, and investors are often in a difficult position. They own valuable shares of a company that doesn’t trade publicly.
These shareholders might have multi-million dollar net worths because of their stock holdings, but the stock is not liquid because it doesn’t trade on an exchange.
A few other platforms have evolved to give these individuals a way to liquidate their holdings before the IPO.
Some of the most prominent include Linqto, EquityZen, Hiive, and Forge Global.
Linqto removes barriers to private markets and gives you access to invest in pre-IPO companies. Epic Games stock is periodically available on the platform (monitor the website or sign up to learn the latest availability).
Accredited investors may join these sites and attempt to buy shares of these companies when they become available. For high-profile companies, high demand lowers your chances of acquiring shares, even if you’re accredited.
Non-accredited investors can own venture capital funds to gain exposure to pre-IPO startups.
The Fundrise Innovation Fund holds more than a dozen pre-IPO stocks including OpenAI, Anthropic, and Anduril. The minimum investment is $10. However, Epic Games is currently not a fund holding.
As of early October 2022, the ARK Venture Fund, led by Cathie Wood, purchased a stake in Epic Games.
All U.S.-based investors are now eligible to invest in the fund for a minimum of $500.
You will only own a small portion of the company. But the fund is a diversified way to own a pool of pre-IPO startups. You’ll gain access to several high-growth companies with one purchase.
Learn more about pre-IPO investing platforms.
Please note: This is a testimonial in partnership with Fundrise. We earn a commission from partner links on AccessIPOs.com. All opinions are my own.
2. Buy Disney Stock (DIS) or Tencent Holdings (TCEHY)
Disney purchased a 7% stake in Epic Games in February 2024. Therefore, the easiest way to gain Epic Games investment exposure is to buy Disney stock.
Investors may also invest in Tencent Holdings to have investment exposure.
Indirect investing is a low-risk, low-return way to invest in pre-IPO companies. But it is by far the most straightforward. Own Disney stock via one of the online brokers in the list below.
3. Participate in the Epic Games IPO
IPO investors may find opportunities to invest during the eventual initial public offering, able to acquire shares at the IPO price before the stock begins trading.
Formerly exclusive to Wall Street’s best customers, IPO access is now more attainable to retail investors.
Online brokers, including the ones listed below, give customers free access to IPOs, even with low account balances.
TradeStation has a more established track record of accessing more than 360 IPOs and secondary offerings via its partnership with Click Markets.
Robinhood has the advantage of Silicon Valley networks and a history of getting allocations for high-profile IPOs, making it a good candidate for the Epic Games IPO.
Check out this list of best brokers for IPO investing to learn more about IPO access for retail investors.
4. Buy Epic Games After the IPO
Since acquiring pre-IPO shares is delicate and usually reserved for wealthy investors, the most likely way you’ll own the stock is to wait patiently for the IPO to complete.
In many cases, investors can get in at or below the IPO price. Often, IPOs take place when bull markets are thriving to maximize the amount of funds raised.
This can lead to inflated stock prices. However, once prices revert to more normal valuations, investors may have a chance to buy the stock below the IPO price.
If you don’t get access to the IPO, monitor the price action for better opportunities.
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
Is Epic Games publicly traded?
No, the company is privately owned.
What is the Epic Games stock symbol?
Epic Games has not yet submitted public filings to the Securities and Exchange Commission. Therefore, we don’t know what the Epic Games stock symbol will be. We can only speculate about the Epic Games ticker.
Here are two suggestions, both of which are available in the U.S.:
- EPIC
- EG
What is the Epic Games stock price?
Since Epic Games is not publicly traded on a stock exchange, there is no public Epic Games stock price yet.
The Disney investment in February 2024 set the Epic Games stock price at $600 per share.
However, Q4 2024 pre-IPO data from Caplight and Hiive indicate the share price has fallen by about 1/3 since then.
Epic Games News Archive
09/28/2023: Epic Games Is Cutting About 16% of Staff
04/25/2023: Apple declares ‘resounding victory’ after Epic Games decision
04/25/2022: Epic Games CEO Tim Sweeney talks the metaverse, crypto, and antitrust
04/11/2022: Sony and KIRKBI Invest in Epic Games
04/07/2022: LEGO and Epic Games Team Up to Build a Kids Metaverse
04/05/2022: How Epic Games is changing gaming—and maybe the metaverse
04/04/2022: Epic Games Raises $144 Million for Ukraine Aid
03/02/2022: Bandcamp is Joining Epic Games
02/16/2022: There are now more than 500 million Epic Games accounts
02/04/2022: How Sony can make a comeback in the console wars
11/23/2021: Epic Games acquires Rock Band maker Harmonix
11/04/2021: Fortnite to shut down in China as Beijing intensifies video game crackdown
10/08/2021: Apple asks judge to pause Epic Games antitrust orders as it appeals ruling
09/10/2021: Epic Games court ruling unlikely to seriously damage Apple’s services business
07/21/2021: Epic Games acquires Sketchfab, a 3D-model sharing platform
03/21/2021: Fortnite-owner Epic Games worth $28bn as fundraising taps lockdown bonanza
01/05/2021: Fortnite Creator Is Buying a Dying Mall to Develop New Headquarters
08/13/2020: Fortnite vs. Apple and Google: Everything you need to know
08/06/2020: ‘Fortnite’ creator Epic Games is now valued at $17.3 billion after blockbuster funding deal
Conclusion
For ordinary investors, it is usually difficult to acquire pre-IPO shares of specific companies.
The company is available through venture capital funds and direct pre-IPO investing on platforms like Linqto. This makes it unique in the gaming space, as Niantic and Valve are more challenging to invest in.
Another option is to buy Disney or Tencent stock for indirect ownership. This is a simple way to gain equity exposure, but it will not lead to outsized gains due to the Epic Games ownership stakes being a fraction of the overall market caps of these large companies.
Otherwise, you’ll need to wait for the IPO date.
But that’s not necessarily a reason to be disappointed. Google’s IPO shares rose 18% on the first day. Many people probably sold that day. Had they held for the next decade, their holdings would have been up 1,000%.
When the Epic Games IPO is near, please perform due diligence on the SEC S-1 filing, and don’t buy Epic Games stock with money you can’t afford to lose.
Disclosure: The web page contains affiliate links from our partners. If a reader opens an account or buys a service from a link in this article, we may be compensated at no additional cost to the reader. Opening an account with a broker that provides access to IPOs does not guarantee the customer allocations of specific IPOs. The author owns a position in the ARK Venture Fund.
Craig Stephens is a former IT professional who left his 19-year consulting career at the IRS to be a full-time finance writer. A DIY investor since 1995, he started Access IPOs in 2016 to provide a resource for ordinary investors pursuing access to IPOs. Craig studied Finance at Michigan State University and lives in Northern Virginia with his wife and three children. Learn more about Craig.