Epic Games has repeatedly praised the PS5 to the point of excess, claiming that it would revolutionize gaming in a way that even the powerful PC could not. Fortnite publisher Epic Games has finally put its money where its mouth is: in a $250 million deal, Sony has purchased a minority stake in Epic Games, bringing the two companies closer than ever.

This information comes from a press release from Epic Games, which states that the deal "solidifies an already close relationship between the two companies and reinforces their shared mission to advance the cutting edge of technology, entertainment and socially connected online services. The statement also states that Sony is "committed to working closely with Ericsson and Sony Ericsson to ensure the continued success of Ericsson's business. The statement does not give specific reasons for Sony's desire for partial ownership of Epic, especially since Sony already owns a number of game studios, but common sense would lead one to believe that Sony's partnership with Epic will allow it to generate revenue in ways that first-party studios cannot. However, Sony already owns a number of game studios.

However, there is an interesting phrase in the press release, which has nothing to do with games.

"With this investment, Sony and Epic will expand their collaboration to leverage Sony's superior portfolio of entertainment assets and technology and Epic's social entertainment platform and digital ecosystem to create unique experiences for consumers and creators to create unique experiences for them.

"Social entertainment platform" could very well refer to "Fortnite," which has a growing presence as a non-violent social platform rather than a shooter. Between the massive concerts and the combat-free digital hangout mode, Fortnite has overtaken Facebook and Instagram as the place where teens and 20-somethings most want to gather online.

Here might be a good time to point out that Sony had a very similar experiment with PlayStation Home around the time of the PS3. This PS3 program allowed users to customize their avatars and go out into customizable digital spaces. While the service never really took off, Sony spent considerable time and effort on it, suggesting that it anticipated the rise of digital hangout spaces at least a decade before this phenomenon caught on. It is not so surprising that Sony wants to try again.

What this means for the PS5 is unclear. While "Fortnite" is set to launch on PS5, it will also be available on the Xbox Series X, and is unlikely to be released on PC or current-gen consoles. However, some sort of exclusive game or service would not be without precedent. From the wording of the press release, the latter seems likely.

Kenichiro Yoshida, President and CEO of Sony, said, "Through this investment, we will explore further collaboration opportunities with Epic to bring joy and value not only to games, but to consumers and the industry as a whole in the rapidly evolving digital entertainment landscape. We look forward to working with Epic in this endeavor."

Similarly, Epic CEO Tim Sweeney indicated that the collaboration would encompass "games, movies and music."

Epic Games has already created a PS5-exclusive game of some sort with the tech demo "Lumen in the Land of Nanite." While this is not an actual game, it is the first time the general public has seen gameplay running on the PS5. Whether the next collaboration between Sony and Epic will be a traditional game or a more experimental social platform remains to be seen. However, we will probably have some information by Holiday 2020, when the PS5 is scheduled to launch.