CARY – Epic Games is selling two of its acquisitions as part of spending cutbacks the company announced Thursday, including some 16% of its workforce.
- Bandcamp, which it acquired in 2022
- SuperAwesome, which it bought in 2020
Fortnite publisher Epic Games is laying off hundreds – 16% of staff
Details follow from announcements published at Epic:
Songtradr acquires Bandcamp
Songtradr, a music licensing platform and marketplace company supporting artists, labels and publishers, and Epic Games, a leading interactive entertainment company and provider of 3D engine technology, announced today that Songtradr is acquiring Bandcamp. Songtradr will continue to operate Bandcamp as a marketplace and music community with an artist-first revenue share.
Bandcamp is an online music store and community with over 5M artists and labels where fans can discover, connect with, and directly support the artists they love. This acquisition will help Bandcamp continue to grow within a music-first company and enable Songtradr to expand its capabilities to support the artist community.
Songtradr will also offer Bandcamp artists the ability and choice to have their music licensed to all forms of media including content creators, game and app developers and brands. This will enable artists to continue to own and control their music rights, and increase their earning capacity from Songtradr’s global licensing network.
Epic is exploring ways to partner with Songtradr to build an inventory of music where artists can opt in to have their music licensed for use in Epic’s ecosystem. Epic will continue to collaborate with Bandcamp on projects like Fortnite Radio and is investing in Songtradr to support Bandcamp’s successful integration into Songtradr.
“The acquisition of Bandcamp will help Songtradr continue to grow its suite of services for artists. I’m a passionate musician myself, and artistry and creativity have always been at the heart of Songtradr. Bandcamp will join a team of music industry veterans and artists who have deep expertise in music licensing, composition, rights management, and distribution,” said Paul Wiltshire, CEO of Songtradr.“
Songtradr shares Epic and Bandcamp’s values around ensuring artists are fairly compensated for their work,” said Steve Allison, Vice President and General Manager, Store at Epic Games. “Bringing Bandcamp to Songtradr will make it easier for independent artists to connect with creators and developers looking to license their music and enable Epic to focus on its core metaverse, games, and tools efforts.”
SuperAwesome management to acquire company from Epic
Today the management team and [CEO Kate O’Loughlin] are announcing our intention to acquire most of SuperAwesome from Epic Games. We will continue to pursue our mission to build a safer internet for the next generation. As an independent company we will expand youth engagement with our ad platform, AwesomeAds and continue to develop our gaming and creator products, leveraging our world-class experience, insights, and technology. Epic Games will be an investor in the newly independent SuperAwesome.
Kids Web Services (KWS), the #1 Parent Verification and Consent platform in the world, will remain a part of Epic Games. KWS is critical to Epic’s work to build a metaverse that is safe and fun for everyone. Epic will continue to support and scale KWS for both Epic products and for independent developers.
SuperAwesome was founded in 2013 to enable the kids digital media ecosystem. At the time, kids and families were beginning to consume more internet-based services over traditional TV and we recognized that most services and platforms weren’t prepared for younger users. We knew that SuperAwesome needed to exist as a company to support the audience the internet had forgotten.
We have a lot to be proud of in our history. SuperAwesome has been the leading innovator and practitioner of youth engagement, and we matured the ecosystem in leaps and bounds.
By 2020, Epic Games acquired SuperAwesome to help ensure that the metaverse would safely welcome players of all ages. SuperAwesome and Epic continue to share a commitment to building experiences and ecosystems that take the safety of all audiences into account, no matter their age.
As part of this mutual commitment, we recognize there is still much work to be done to make the Internet safer and more welcoming for young audiences. Kids and teens are the most important generation on the internet but in many ways the audience is unseen and the space is under-funded.
At the same time, we know the opportunities in building for kids and teens are only increasing. Today’s kids and teens are the pioneers of new technology, and they are the first generation to grow up as AI natives. They influence more than $1.2 trillion in family purchases per year. This reality underscores the imperative for creators and brands to attend to this dynamic and powerful audience.
Given our expertise, we are the best team to tackle these opportunities with our partners and the industry. We are poised for a new era of growth and innovation.
SuperAwesome’s leadership in the youth digital ecosystem was accelerated by Epic Games. We know that as part of Epic the KWS team will continue to enable more developers to create safer digital experiences, while empowering parents to make the choices that are right for their families. I extend our sincere gratitude to Tim Sweeney and the Epic team for the incredible partnership and growth we’ve achieved over the last three years.
The future for SuperAwesome is bright and I have every confidence that this talented SuperAwesome team will indeed make the internet better for the next generation.
