'Fortnite' CEO buys 7,000-acre farm in Halifax County

HALIFAX Co., Va. (WSET) -- A billionaire has purchased a seven thousand-acre farm in Halifax County.

Epic Games Inc. founder and CEO Tim Sweeney, 49, is worth more than $7 billion and his company, best known for their blockbuster game, Fortnite, is valued at more than $15 billion.

Sweeney said he purchased Falkland Farms, a well-known hunting preserve and forestry tract, in Scottsburg for more than $11 million.

Through twitter, Sweeney said that when the land was put up for sale, many were concerned that the state wouldn't be able to buy it quick enough.

He said he will own the farm to protect the land's rare oak and pine ecosystem until a permanent conservation home is arranged, which would take two to three years.

According to the Wall Street Journal, Sweeney has spent hundreds of millions of dollars to preserve more than 45,000 acres of forest throughout North Carolina.

Epic Games Inc. is located in Cary, North Carolina, about a two hour drive away from Halifax County.

A Facebook page for Falkland Farms said that it is the largest public hunting plantation in the state of Virginia at 7,673 acres, featuring a "plethora" of habitats that support bountiful wild game populations, along with a hunting lodge and Bed and Breakfast.

The Zillow listing shows that it is an 11 square mile peninsula of managed pine and hardwood timber bounded by the Kerr Reservoir, the Dan, Banister, and Hyco Rivers.