Fornite and Unreal Engine developer Epic Games has acquired social platform Houseparty.

Dubbed as a "face to face" social network, Houseparty lets groups of people chat through voice and video in a chatroom style setting. It's available on Android and iOS, as well as MacOS and Google Chrome.

The app will still remain available as a standalone platform, which means Houseparty and Epic accounts will not be connected and user data will not be shared between them.

Positive social interactions

"Joining Epic is a great step forward in achieving our mission of bringing empathy to online communication," said Sima Sistani, co-founder and CEO of Houseparty.

"We have a common vision to make human interaction easier and more enjoyable, and always with respect for user privacy."

CEO of Epic Games, Tim Sweeney, added: "Houseparty brings people together, creating positive social interactions in real time. By teaming up, we can build even more fun, shared experiences than what could be achieved alone."