Epic Games has announced it has acquired the development company behind the gameshow-style battle-royale hit, Fall Guys: Ultimate Knockout. Tonic Games, the parent company of developer Mediatonic, joins Epic Games less than seven months following the launch of Fall Guys on PlayStation 4 and PC via Steam. The title is currently slated to arrive this summer on Xbox and Switch.

According to both Epic Games and Mediatonic, the gameplay of Fall Guys: Ultimate Knockout isn't changing and the company will continue to invest in the title across all platforms. Fall Guys will still be available for purchase on all currently existing and announced platforms (yes, including Steam), and all versions will continue to receive future updates. 

"At Tonic Games Group we often say that 'everyone deserves a game that feels like it was made for them,'" Tonic Games Group co-founder and CEO Dave Bailey said in an Epic Games blog post. "With Epic, we feel like we have found a home that was made for us. They share our mission to build and support games that have a positive impact, empower others, and stand the test of time and we couldn't be more excited to be joining forces with them."

Tonic Games and Mediatonic join Epic Games amid what appears to be a larger publishing push from the gaming giant. Epic Games has been riding high on its own megahit, Fortnite, over the last several years, and has recently announced publishing deals with Control developer Remedy Entertainment, Inside developer Playdead, and The Last Guardian developer GenDesign. Epic Games is also the parent company of another developer with a popular living game, Rocket League developer Psyonix. Mediatonic says it would love to incorporate features currently in games like Fortnite and Rocket League, including account systems, cross-play, squad-vs.-squad modes, and more, but that is something the team is currently investigating. Fall Guys has already taken a page out of games like Fortnite and Rocket League, incorporating crossover items from other games like Cuphead, Team Fortress 2, Sonic the Hedgehog, Untitled Goose Game, and Doom.

Fall Guys: Ultimate Knockout officially launched last August to positive reviews and overwhelming community reception, garnering millions of players on both PlayStation 4 and Steam. The title is currently in its third season of content, which is winter themed. For more on Fall Guys: Ultimate Knockout, check out our review.

[Source: Epic Games, Mediatonic Games]

When Pokémon Go first released back in 2016, the world was unanimously happy for about two weeks as fans of the pocket monster franchise took to the real world to "catch 'em all" with the geocaching game. Eventually, the hype died down and the game evolved quite a bit to keep players invested by including things like raids, trading, and even more highly desirable features. Now, the mobile adventure is making its way to the world of HoloLens and if this demo from Microsoft and Niantic is anything to go by – it's a good move to make. 

HoloLends is a pair of mixed reality smartglasses from Microsoft that aims to take reality as we know it and make it even more integrated with the tech all around us. In this demo, Microsoft shows off how the mixed reality peripheral pairs with Pokémon Go to take the caching game to an entirely new level for dedicated players. 

With the Microsoft Mesh mixed reality experience launching today, the tech company shared a demo of what the Pokémon Go experience looks and feels like when using the HoloLens 2. The above demonstration is a proof of concept, which just means this may not be the final version that the consumer base will see, but from what was shown this looks like it could be an incredible jumping start for the future of Pokémon Go. 

When Pokémon Go first came out, it was so much fun going out and exploring the area around me. Suddenly, I saw everything through a new lens, making even the most mundane environments seem exciting and new. Remembering that feeling at launch has me excited to see this HoloLens demo. While I personally have no vested interest in this particular peripheral, blended gaming experiences like this out in the wild may just be enough to pull me - and others like me - in. 

“While this demo is not intended for consumer use, it offers an early glimpse into the future evolutions in both software and hardware,” says John Hanke, CEO and founder of Niantic, over on the official Niantic website. “We’ve only scratched the surface. We know the years ahead to be filled with important achievements which will serve as waypoints in AR’s journey to become a life-changing computing platform.”

What the future will look like is still up in the air, but so far it looks pretty heckin' cool. What are your thoughts on the HoloLens 2 Pokémon Go demo seen above? Sound off with your thoughts in the comment section below! 

[Source: Niantic via The Verge]