Bandcamp bought by Fortnite developer Epic Games

Bandcamp is joining Epic Games.

CEO and co-founder of the music streaming platform, Ethan Diamond, published a statement today (2nd March) via Bandcamp's blog to announce the news, describing Epic Games as "champions for a fair and open internet".

Epic Games — which boasts half a billion accounts on its platform — is the developer behid popular online battle game Fortnite, as well as the Gears of War franchise. The developer is also heavily invested in the Metaverse, and unveiled its MetaHuman Creator project in February 2021: a browser-based application to allow game developers to create realistic human characters. 

Speaking in the post, Diamond said: "Bandcamp will keep operating as a standalone marketplace and music community, and I will continue to lead our team. The products and services you depend on aren’t going anywhere, we’ll continue to build Bandcamp around our artists-first revenue model (where artists net an average of 82% of every sale), you’ll still have the same control over how you offer your music, Bandcamp Fridays will continue as planned, and the Daily will keep highlighting the diverse, amazing music on the site.

"However, behind the scenes we’re working with Epic to expand internationally and push development forward across Bandcamp, from basics like our album pages, mobile apps, merch tools, payment system, and search and discovery features, to newer initiatives like our vinyl pressing and live streaming services."

As well as the recently added queuing option to its mobile app, Bandcamp launched its Live streaming platform for gigs and events in 2020, and in early 2021, expanded its vinyl pressing service.

You can read the full statement here.