Fortnite Studio Epic Games Buys 87-Acre, 980,000 Square Foot Headquarters For $95 Million

Fortnite developer Epic Games has announced that it is moving its corporate headquarters to a new, significantly larger campus--and it sounds truly massive.

Epic has announced that it has acquired North Carolina's Cary Towne Center, a mall of sorts that was built in 1979. As with many other shopping centers around the US, a number of its big box tenants, including Sears and JCPenny, have vacated in recent years.

The space is truly massive, coming in at 980,000 square feet, spread across 87 acres. The goal is for the new campus to open by 2024. The site will include office buildings and "recreational spaces." Epic said its ambition is to "create a campus customized from the ground up to accommodate its long-term growth."

Construction is slated to begin in 2021. For now, Epic's employees will continue to work out of the office near Crossroads Boulevard in Cary.

In addition to its own business purposes, Epic said it is working with the town of Cary to consider ways that the property can be used by the residents of the town. "Epic is grateful to the Town and its leadership for how welcoming it has been to the company over the years, and this positive relationship played a significant role in Epic's decision to pursue a campus that secures its future in Cary for decades to come," Epic said.

The mayor of Cary, Harold Weinbrecht, said in a statement, "We're extremely proud that Epic has chosen to call Cary home for their new global headquarters, and we greatly appreciate the company’s recognition of Cary’s existing assets as well as the unlimited potential of the area for their growing business."

According to records spotted by the New Observer, Epic paid around $95 million for the property. It's acquiring it from Turnbridge Equities and Denali Partners, who themselves paid $31.5 million for it back in February 2019.

In addition to running the massively popular battle royale game Fortnite, Epic operates the Unreal Engine, which is one of the most widely used game engines. Epic also works with Lucasfilm on the technology in The Mandalorian that helps create virtual stages.