Social video chat app Houseparty has been acquired by Epic Games, the maker of Fortnite, it announced with a blog post Wednesday morning. Financial details of the deal haven’t bee announced.
“Houseparty brings people together, creating positive social interactions in real time,” said Epic CEO Tim Sweeney in a statement. “By teaming up, we can build even more fun, shared experiences than what could be achieved alone.”
“Joining Epic is a great step forward in achieving our mission of bringing empathy to online communication,” added Houseparty co-founder and CEO Sima Sistani. “We have a common vision to make human interaction easier and more enjoyable, and always with respect for user privacy.”
Houseparty started out as a video chat app, but has since added a number of additional social features, including mini games, chat and more. The app has been installed by approximately 35 million iOS and Android users worldwide, according to a new estimate from app analytics specialist Sensor Tower, with 40% of those users residing outside the U.S.
Those numbers are dwarfed by the user base of Fortnite, which has over 250 million players, according to Epic. Still, Houseparty could be a good addition for the gaming company, which also develops the Unreal game engine. It may allow Epic to build social and chat functionality for games that keeps users in the fold, doing away with the need for third-party voice and video chat services.
Houseparty has raised a total of $70 million from Sequoia Capitial, Greylock Partners, Comcast Ventures and others.