Epic’s gotta do something with the money it’s printing through Fortnite purchases. Acquisitions appear to be at the top of that list, starting with Kamu, the Finnish startup behind Easy Anti-Cheat.
Epic has already deployed the anti-cheat software for its wildly popular sandbox survival game — it’s been a central piece of the gaming company’s strong anti-cheating stance. It is, as CEO Tim Sweeney puts it in the press release announcing the acquisition, “key to building a vibrant Fortnite multiplayer experience that’s fair for all players.”
Fortnite isn’t the only title currently leveraging Kamu’s best-known offering. The startup says Easy Anti-Cheat is currently used by north of 80 games, installed on 100 million PCs globally. Chances are pretty decent that if you’ve played a big name title in the past year, it’s already on your computer.
Kamu will continue to provide its service to non-Epic titles for the time being. Here’s Kamu CEO Simon Allaeys from the same release, “Joining the Epic family is not only a childhood dream come true, but a huge boost for our mission to help developers create beautiful gaming experiences. Battling cheating in games was just the start; today our products also help developers stay competitive by identifying player needs as quickly as they emerge.”
The acquisition also affords Epic the opportunity to set up shop in Kamu’s native Helsinki. Terms of the deal were not disclosed.