Following an investment made back in 2022, Epic Games has announced that it has now fully acquired Brazilian studio Aquiris, the developers behind the fantastic Horizon Chase Turbo and its direct sequel.
The studio will be renamed Epic Games Brazil and has been tasked to "create groundbreaking content and social experiences within Fortnite". Its existing projects and IP will "continue to operate" alongside this fresh assignment for the developer.
Speaking via a blog post from Epic Games, Mauricio Longoni, CEO of Aquiris and now Creative Director of Epic Games Brazil, said the following:
“Joining Epic Games builds on our successes in creating memorable games including Wonderbox, Horizon Chase 2 and Looney Tunes World of Mayhem, which we will continue to operate.
"We are delighted to leverage our experience using Unreal Engine on game development to contribute to the future of Fortnite. AQUIRIS has been on the forefront of game development in Brazil and Latin America, and becoming part of Epic Games will spotlight our region’s developers for the entire industry."
Fortnite, originally released for the Switch in 2018, has gone on to be a true worldwide phenomenon, though not without controversy. Just last year, Epic Games had agreed to pay an astonishing $540 million to settle an allegation from the Federal Trade Commission of using 'dark patterns' to force unintentional purchases from users, along with violating children's online privacy law.