Fortnite-Creator Epic Games Acquires KidTech Firm SuperAwesome

Popular video game Fortnite’s creator Epic Games today announced that it has acquired SuperAwesome, a UK-based kid tech firm that provides developers with kid-safety tools to make their products safer for younger audiences. 

While the terms of the deal weren’t disclosed, the announcement came days after Epic’s $15 million investment in the Manticore Games, California-based mobile game developer. 

SuperAwesome has worked with over 300 world-famous brands including LEGO, Hasbro and NBC ‘’to make the internet safer’’ for over 500 million kids every month, through mobile apps, games and other digital services. 

”More kids interact online than ever before and now is the time to double down on their safety. SuperAwesome is the company developers want to work with to make better online content for kids. We share the belief that digital experiences are better when you go the extra mile to respect privacy and we’re thrilled to invest in this future alongside the talented SuperAwesome team.” said Tim Sweeney, Epic Games founder and CEO. 

”The internet was never designed for kids so we started SuperAwesome to make it as easy as possible to enable safe, privacy-driven digital experiences for children everywhere. Partnering with Epic Games gives us the opportunity to deliver that promise on a scale which simply wouldn’t have been possible on our own. We’re proud and excited to be working together to make the internet safer for kids.” said Dylan Collins, SuperAwesome co-founder and CEO.

Epic has been in a legal battle with Apple for a while after Apple removed Fortnite from its app market following the introduction of Epic’s direct payment system which bypassed the 30% fee Apple and Google collects from in app purchases. 

Yesterday, several Apple critics including Epic, Spotify, Tinder owner Match Group and Basecamp have jointly founded an independent nonprofit organization named Coalition for App Fairness to fight against Apple’s App Store policies.