Epic Games buys maker of video chat app Houseparty

Epic Games has acquired video chat app Houseparty. It is unknown how much the maker of Fortnite and the Unreal engine pays for the maker of the video chat service. It’s also unclear what Epic will do with the app.

Houseparty says in the announcement that the acquisition will help more people reach out to others. What that will mean in practice is as yet unclear. In a short faq, Houseparty reports that nothing will change in the app for the time being. The accounts for both services also remain separate.

Houseparty emphasizes in the announcement that the future Epic, thanks to the success of Fortnite, has more money available for acquisitions than before. It is also in the process of acquiring Psyonix, the maker of the Rocket League game.

The video chat app is from the makers of Meerkat, a service for live streaming videos on Twitter. Houseparty makes it possible to video chat with multiple contacts at the same time. The number of users is unknown. On Android, the app has between five and ten million installs.