Epic Games, the creator of the global video gaming phenomenon Fortnite, sued Apple and Google in August over accusations of unfair pricing practices in each tech companies’ respective Android and Apple app stores. When Epic introduced a new way for Fortnite’s millions of mobile users to directly pay for in-game currency that gave the company a discount from Apple and Google fees, their game was removed from each app store. With the company’s flagship game off of Apple and Google’s platforms, Epic is set to lose tens of millions each month in revenue.
According to data from Sensor Tower collected by the Wall Street Journal, Fortnite average $51 million of revenue a month between April and July this year just on the Apple App Store and Google Play Store. The game also averaged 5.6 million new downloads during that same time period. Fortnite was on pace in August to reach similar numbers before it was pulled on Aug. 13.
Epic has begun publicly framing the lawsuit as a fight between honest game developers and large corporate gatekeepers. However, their grievances over Apple’s 30 percent App Store commission may be a much larger battle, as that payment system has mostly become an agreed-upon industry standard in the gaming and app realm. Overall, the lawsuit is proving to be a substantial short-term loss for all companies involved, and it remains to be seen whether Epic has a realistic shot at disrupting the app commission system.
