Epic Games, the firm behind the smash hit game Fortnite and the widely used Unreal Engine, today announced that it has raised $2 billion in funding—with ambitions to “build the metaverse.”

The funding round was split evenly between previous investor Sony and newcomer KIRKBI, the company behind The LEGO Group, with each firm investing $1 billion at a post-money valuation of $31.5 billion. Epic Games founder and CEO Tim Sweeney remains in control of the private company.

“This investment will accelerate our work to build the metaverse and create spaces where players can have fun with friends, brands can build creative and immersive experiences, and creators can build a community and thrive,” said Sweeney, in a release.

Epic Games last raised funds a year ago, announcing a $1 billion raise in April 2021 at a valuation of $28.7 billion. That round also included $200 million from Sony. Last week, The LEGO Group announced a partnership with Epic Games to build out a kid-friendly, LEGO-themed metaverse world.

What is the metaverse? It’s the vision of a future, more immersive internet in which users interact in 3D spaces using avatars. The metaverse is believed to be a revolutionary upgrade that people will use to shop, socialize, play games, and even work, and hype around the metaverse has swelled in recent months after Facebook rebranded its parent company to Meta.