Court docs: Epic's total gross revenue was $5.6B in 2018 and $4.2B in 2019, with the vast majority of revenue coming from Fortnite

New financial figures were revealed as part of Epic Games' antitrust case against Apple — After a meteoric rise to popularity in 2018 …

The Verge 2021-05-04 Mitchell Clark

Context & Ripple Effects

The disclosures give a fuller financial frame to reports that Fortnite drove Epic's 2018 profits, showing how central one game was to the company during the period at issue. They also sharpen the significance of Epic's earlier rebuttal of Apple’s claim that Fortnite interest had fallen, which tied the dispute to the game’s continuing player base.

Because the figures surfaced in Epic’s antitrust case against Apple, they make Fortnite’s distribution and payment economics central to both companies’ arguments, rather than a peripheral game-publishing dispute.

First-order effects

Epic’s court case now has a documented measure of its reliance on Fortnite revenue, increasing the practical importance of the game’s access to Apple’s platform and payment rules.
Apple must address a claim brought by a developer whose flagship title generated most of its reported revenue in the disclosed years.

Second-order effects

The revenue concentration makes App Store commissions a more consequential point of contention; later testimony that Apple earned more than $100M from Fortnite commissions illustrates the scale each side attached to the relationship.
Other major app publishers gain a clearer example of how dependence on a single platform-distributed hit can turn payment terms into a strategic and legal issue.

Third-order effects

If platform disputes increasingly expose the economics of major developers, scrutiny of app-store take rates will focus less on nominal percentages and more on bargaining power where revenue is concentrated in a few essential apps.
The case points toward platform governance battles being shaped by the financial dependency of both the developer and the platform on blockbuster services.

The trend: Mobile-platform regulation is increasingly testing whether standard app-store payment rules are sustainable when blockbuster apps concentrate revenue and leverage on both sides.

Discussion

@simoncarless Simon Carless on x
Want to know how much $ the devs of those ‘free’ Epic Games Store games got, & how many copies were grabbed? Here's the first 9 months to September 2019. 👀 https://twitter.com/...
@ballmatthew Matthew Ball on x
1/ Epic v Apple has given unprecedented insight into cross-platform gaming. More data than the platforms themselves have! For example, Fortnite's MAUs by ecosystem. Note how new devices expanded total player counts and didn't cannibalize the platforms that already had Fortnite ht…
@zhugeex Daniel Ahmad on x
We now know Epic Games revenue for the past three years thanks to court documents. 2018: $5.7 billion 2019: $4.2 billion 2020: $5.1 billion 97% of 2018 revenue was Fortnite. 88% in 2019. https://www.theverge.com/...
@kyleorl Kyle Orland on x
I am all for major video game companies suing each other just to surface information like this https://twitter.com/...
@ballmatthew Matthew Ball on x
Note that at an average of $4.5B a year, Nielsen and NewZoo's estimates for Fortnite were less than half of its actual revenues. Fortnite looking like >3x Roblox in 2020 and meaningfully above Honour of Kings, previously assumed top free-to-play title of last year https://twitter…
@thedextriarchy Adi Robertson on x
Apple's showing numbers (similar to expert testimony we've covered) estimating that iOS is a small fraction of the Fortnite user base. “Makes you kind of wonder what we're doing here.” https://www.theverge.com/... https://twitter.com/...
@glassbottommeg Megan Fox on x
If you squint at this, the games with the cheapest UA costs appear to be the non-genre indies. The odd ones out. It suggests they're a valuable property that, on average, isn't paid what they're worth. Very much counter to typical narratives surrounding indies on new platforms. h…
@patstaresat @patstaresat on x
I swear to god these numbers make me feel even more strongly this whole fiasco is to pay for the Epic Store. https://twitter.com/...
@nickstatt Nick Statt on x
That is.... wayyyy more than was publicly thought. Generous estimates from Sensor Tower had the company making $2-3 billion per year on Fortnite, but $9 billion in two years?? https://twitter.com/...
@tha_rami Rami Ismail on x
Ok, I'm going to say this as nicely as I can but INDIES DEMAND MORE MONEY FROM CORPORATIONS FOR YOUR SHIT what are some of these numbers what even https://twitter.com/...
@innovationmatt Matt Smith on x
A comparison to gauge the size of the games industry right now. Fortnite has made more money than all of the Harry Potter films put together If charities can work with developers to convert < 1% of game revenue into donations/CSR, we're talking £10 millions in new income 🤓🎮 https…
@skillupyt Skill Up on x
I can't believe this data is public! And like, holy shit. Epic absolutely CLEANED UP on these deals. Publishers giving away their game for cents on the dollar and Epic paying peanuts for new users. This is scandalously good value for Epic. https://twitter.com/...
@nickstatt Nick Statt on x
Apple's counsel laying out the scope of Fortnite's business on console: $6 billion on PlayStation through the end of 2020, and $3.5 billion on Xbox. And Apple hammering Sweeney about lack of concern over giving 30% to MSFT and Sony.
@hbjohnxuandou Rolling Soul Diver on x
Am I the only one looking at this and feeling like the near 10 million users it had before getting pulled from the iOS store is not small at all? It was beating out the PC and going toe to toe with Switch, that sounds like a market they care about. https://twitter.com/...
@duskdev David Szymanski on x
@simoncarless If these are accurate that actually seems like not an amazing deal for the devs.
@jasonaten Jason Aten on x
“What's the marginal cost to a v-buck?” Apple's lawyer asks. “There's no cost to producing a v-buck.” Apple highlighting that Epic is fighting over the most lucrative legalized racket on earth—charging real money in exchange for fake money used to buy fake goods.
@genepark Gene Park on x
honestly surprised to see PC players of Fortnite being below even the switch audience https://twitter.com/...
@mrhelmut @mrhelmut on x
Here's a different perspective, I computed the price per unit claimed. For your interest, platforms usually don't communicate on expected units (I don't know about this case, just adding the perspective). There's some very serious undervaluation here. https://twitter.com/... http…
@nickstatt Nick Statt on x
Staggering how much more sucessful Fortnite is on PlayStation than Xbox. Explains Sony's deep investment in Epic and its willingness to bend on things like cross-platform. Fortnite has been a multi-billion dollar business for Sony just through its PS Store commission.
@ohnorosco Ross Miller on x
According to this, Epic paid ~$12M to give out ~104M download and in return got ~5m people to sign up for EGS. Or about $2.37 per new user acquired (UA). Which... dang, feels like a good deal for Epic even if not everyone spends actual $$ later on https://twitter.com/...
@thedextriarchy Adi Robertson on x
Apple lawyer saying there were two reasons for the V-Bucks discount last year: PR for Project Liberty, but also “you were concerned that interest in the game was flagging.” Sweeney says the latter part's not right.
Vox Peter Kafka on x
Apple, Fortnite, and the Apple App Store: What's at stake in the antitrust court case
@nickstatt Nick Statt on x
“Apple has started to tell the world... that it doesn't know what the App Store's rate of return is. The evidence will show this is not true. We have documents... that lay out the profitability of the App Store.” Epic's lawyer cites the recently revealed 78% profit margin figure.
@tomwarren Tom Warren on x
this is an email from Sony to Epic Games in 2018, dismissing the idea of cross-play for Fortnite. Epic Games had pitched cross-play announce with Sony where “Epic goes out of its way to make Sony look like heroes.” https://twitter.com/...
@kifleswing Kif on x
Now we have an email from Scott Forstall describing what sounds like a tense conversation with Mark Zuckerberg. Apple laid down the rules: No embedded apps in the Facebook app. https://twitter.com/...
@patrickmcgee_ Patrick McGee on x
Phil Schiller in 2012, after a rip-off app hit #1: “What the hell is this????? .... Is no one reviewing these Apps? Is no one minding the store?” https://twitter.com/...
@johnmarknewman John Newman on x
One part of Epic v. Apple that's a bit concerning: both sides hired experts who support the Supreme Court's badly misguided approach to two-sided markets. Perhaps unsurprisingly, much of their writing on the topic was funded by credit-card companies, as noted below. https://twitt…
@patrickmcgee_ Patrick McGee on x
Start of *thread* Will tweet some of the more glaring exhibits in the @Apple-@Epic trial — moving too quickly to offer (much) commentary. https://twitter.com/...
@eringriffith Erin Griffith on x
Now to the heart of this case: The 30% fee. Epic says the 30% Apple charges for in-app fees was not based on costs required to maintain the app store or make it secure. “There's a name for businesses that set prices without regard to costs: Monopolists.”
@colincornaby Colin Cornaby on x
Mostly I just hope after this trial that Epic and Apple can get back to making sure stuff like Unreal works well on the Mac and iOS. It's been real unsettling how Unreal has not been part of the Apple Silicon campaign, given their market dominance.
@reckless Nilay Patel on x
1. The slide transitions during Epic's opening argument using literal bricks stacking up are very funny 2. Apple really, really knows that iMessage keeps people on iOS, and that messages get lost when people switch to Android. https://twitter.com/...
@eringriffith Erin Griffith on x
Apple argues: Epics requested relief would undo everything Apple and app developers have built and everything consumers “have trusted and loved.” It would also force them to license their IP to anyone. “The law just does not permit this.”
@kifleswing Kif on x
Facebook is still protesting this rule as of 2020 https://www.cnbc.com/...
@eringriffith Erin Griffith on x
Annnd we have finally confirmed the percentage that Tencent owns in Fortnite - 37% which is not a lot of dilution given Epic's big $$ fundraising since that round in 2012. Tencent also has 2 board seats.
@eringriffith Erin Griffith on x
The cross examination is a rapid fire series of yes/no questions about app stores, fees, contracts etc. Making the overall point that Sweeney controls Epic, agreed to its initial iOS terms and contracts, and offers Fortnite on a number of app stores.
@pkafka Peter Kafka on x
Apple attny getting Epic CEO to agree he sells Fortnite via non-Apple platforms - Nintendo, Xbox, Sony, etc# - under same terms as Apple: 30% cut, no side loading. This is not news, at all, but seems like a pretty compelling argument to this non-lawyer. https://www.vox.com/... ht…
@zittrain Jonathan Zittrain on x
This case is worth following, especially if it doesn't settle early — it's structured as a reckoning for Apple's App Store, and Apple's ability to take nearly a third of all digital sales through it, as well as to decide what's allowed in it to begin with. https://twitter.com/...
@patrickmcgee_ Patrick McGee on x
After the hot fix, didn't Epic continue to pay a 30% “tax” to Nintendo, Xbox? Sweeney: Correct.
@kifleswing Kif on x
A Facebook employee even quit in a public blog post saying that part of the reason was that the app was held up because it was delayed over a “strained relationship with Apple.” https://gigaom.com/...
@jacobwolf Jacob Wolf on x
Epic's attorneys are making the argument I expected: Mac OS and iOS are no different in terms of security, but that Apple specifically chooses to put up barriers around sideloading on iOS to financially benefit the App Store and its developer. #EpicvsApple
@thedextriarchy Adi Robertson on x
i hope this just gets broader and broader until they're asking Tim Sweeney to define the concept of love https://twitter.com/...
@kifleswing Kif on x
An interesting history lesson about the Apple/Facebook spat revealed today in court docs. (1/5)
@thedextriarchy Adi Robertson on x
Judge is stepping in. She asks if there have been significant iPhone upgrades that better support Fortnite — and by extension, whether Apple is making technical advances that Epic is building on.
@iansherr Ian Sherr on x
Apple lawyers pushing Sweeney on the fact that Epic signed contracts with Apple to use its IP/developer tools. “At the time you signed the contract, you didn't voice, any complaint or have any dispute with Apple directly” Sweeney: “We did not attempt to renegotiate the contract”
@chrismlacy Chris Lacy on x
1. Apple loses, must allow 3rd party iOS stores. 2. Google releases Play on iOS, moves all its iOS apps. 3. FB/Twtr/Snap make deal w. G. They get X% of lifetime $ from all apps installed via app install ads. 4. G Search prioritizes Play iOS results. The App Store is neutered.
@thedextriarchy Adi Robertson on x
This is Apple getting Sweeney to admit to an already very public narrative: Epic has been okay with paying game stores and publishers for decades, and it was cool with Apple for a decade, but then it changed its mind and hatched a plan that would probably get it kicked off iOS.
@eringriffith Erin Griffith on x
Apple put up a chart to show that Sony, MSFT and Nintendo all take 30% commission, prohibit sideloading, and require developers to use in-house - all the things Epic is asking Apple to change - and is having Sweeney answer each box 1 by 1
@thedextriarchy Adi Robertson on x
The court is moving into a sealed session, which effectively wraps up Day 1 of the Apple/Epic trial. Tim Sweeney still has time on the schedule, and I'm sure we'll be hearing much more about whether the iPhone is like a PS5.
@ronamadeo Ron Amadeo on x
Wow imagine an iOS Play Store. https://twitter.com/...
@rjonesy Ryan Jones on x
Brilliant angle. It forces Apple to argue that MacOS is insecure. https://twitter.com/...
@cstar_ow CoolStar on x
Fuck Apple's monopoly. I hope Epic Games wins
@kifleswing Kif on x
Apple's iPad came out in 2010. It didn't have a Facebook app until 2011. People wondered why and when it came out people said “Finally.” https://twitter.com/...
@snazzyq Quinn Nelson on x
Yep. I've long believed iMessage's de-registration process was always under-baked explicitly to punish people who moved away from iMessage. Apple verifies in a second if a phone number is an iMessage device but doesn't verify in group messages if a number is no longer. https://tw…
@thedextriarchy Adi Robertson on x
“Is the Epic Games Store currently profitable?” asks lawyer. No, says Sweeney. It's “hundreds of millions of dollars short of being profitable” because of the upfront costs of setting it up. “We have a general expectation of becoming profitable within 3 or 4 years.”
@benbajarin Ben Bajarin on x
Expect this stat, from Epic's economic/accounting expert, to be torn apart vigorously. https://twitter.com/...
@tomwarren Tom Warren on x
I'm loving the questions to @TimSweeneyEpic in this Epic Games v. Apple trial: • “What does cosmetic mean?” • “What does avatar mean?” • “Have you heard of in-app purchases? What does IAP mean?” • “Was there a time when Fortnite was available in the Apple App Store?”
@thedextriarchy Adi Robertson on x
“Apple bars us from operating a store, a digital app store that could operate on the iOS platform.” Apple also operates the Mac App Store, which to some extent is in competition with the Epic Games Store.
@iansherr Ian Sherr on x
In the distribution of apps, is there anywhere Apple competes with Epic? Sweeney: “There's not, because Apple bars us from operating a store” Though he does remember Epic competes with the Mac App Store
@mattocko Matt Ocko on x
Interestingly enough, for all the crocodile tears & performative victimhood by Epic... ...they don't let me or anyone else just stuff our content into Fortnite or the Epic App Store rule-free & at vendor-set prices like they're demanding to do with Apple 🤔 Immense hypocrisy https…
@iansherr Ian Sherr on x
Sweeney: “I support the right for Apple to offer a purchasing system. It's about the ability to offer a competing purchasing system so developers can choose.”
@eringriffith Erin Griffith on x
Sweeney made a point he's made a lot, which is that Apple can make more money on a game with its commissions than the developer of the game - Apple objects to this.
@thedextriarchy Adi Robertson on x
Sweeney says Apple's IAP system means it can't offer refunds to customers who ask for help and “certainly impacts Epic's pricing decisions” because of the commission. It's also prevented them from doing things they would on other platforms thanks to “a myriad” of restrictions.
@stephennellis Stephen Nellis on x
“We freely acknowledge App Store review is not perfect,” Dunn says. Holes in App Store review are core to Epic's legal argument that review (and the pro-competitive security benefits Apple says it brings) are a pretext to screen out rivals.
@reckless Nilay Patel on x
iMessage lock-in is, by Apple's own admission, part of the engine that makes the iPhone go in the US, and Apple knows that leaving iMessage is hard. Which probably explains why the process of turning iMessage off has always been so flaky and inconsistent
@nickstatt Nick Statt on x
Apple's laywer has resumed its opening argument after the courtroom pause. Now arguing the complexity and cost of licesning Apple IP. “Third-party apps, app stores, and payment systems can only exist on iOS with Apple's IP, so Apple would be forced to license to this IP.”
@lauren_feiner Lauren Feiner on x
Apple invokes the SCOTUS AmEx decision to defend its two-sided App Store market. That decision has been highly criticized by a range of antitrust academics and officials (including Trump's former DOJ antitrust chief) for its interpretation of antitrust law
@nickstatt Nick Statt on x
Apple says you can buy Fortnite v-bucks on the web and can also spend that currency across paltforms, without giving a cut to Apple. But leaving out of course App Store rules that prohobit advertising alternative purchase options.
@patrickmcgee_ Patrick McGee on x
The Majority of Fortnite User Accounts Are Not on iOS “It makes you wonder what we're even doing here” Apple lawyer says https://twitter.com/...
@eringriffith Erin Griffith on x
Apple shows a slide summarizing its arguments in blunt statements, ending with “Epic cannot prove a lie.”
@nickstatt Nick Statt on x
This is really key. Apple's lawyer says “Apple did not establish the 30 percent,” but rather game companies did back around 2003 when digital distrbuition was starting. “30% was, as Epic's integrate documents will show, industry standard.”
@iansherr Ian Sherr on x
Apple also argues that in 2008, 30% was standard industry pricing, and then other stores followed the 30% model: Google Play Store, The Samsung Galaxy store, Microsoft, HP, Amazon. “This is the kind of market entry that is the hallmark of competition.”
@patrickmcgee_ Patrick McGee on x
Apple says it didnt invent the 30% rate — it's the going rate. https://twitter.com/...
@iansherr Ian Sherr on x
Apple recounting how IAP was created: Initially only had free and paid, and developers asked for a new way to monetize their apps in a way people could download a game for free and “and then sell content to the consumers within the app.”
@nickstatt Nick Statt on x
Apple's lawyer says “since the App Store first opened its doors in 2008, more than 180 billion app downloads. This is kind of output antitrust laws dream about.” Apple very much trying to combat many of Epic's claims by reframing them as graver threats to the iPhone.
@patrickmcgee_ Patrick McGee on x
Apple says Fortnite is dismissing Apple's contributions but in the past it has praised them: https://twitter.com/...
@patrickmcgee_ Patrick McGee on x
“Epic is asking for government intervention to take away a choice that consumers currently have.”
@willoremus Will Oremus on x
On Twitter, in contrast, discovery is built around the follower relationship. You'll only see Twitter Spaces hosted by people you already follow. That limits the potential for groups of strangers to form communities spontaneously around a clicky topic—for better or worse.
@reggie Reggie Fils-Aime on x
This trial, and the results in the EU case vs. Spotify really put pressure on the app 30% tax. I will be tracking closely. https://twitter.com/...
@patrickmcgee_ Patrick McGee on x
@Apple @epic “Apple's claims of security falls short. Scam apps and copycat apps have gotten through the process... So many bad apps made it through the allegedly secure review process that, as you can see from 2017, Apple noted that more than 400,000 apps were removed from the A…
@patrickmcgee_ Patrick McGee on x
Epic says the App Store monopoly is akin to a car dealer charging a customer a 30% fee every time they fill up in the car, with no other options allowed. (Good analogy??) https://twitter.com/...
@patrickmcgee_ Patrick McGee on x
“Apple did not create a secure and integrated ecosystem to keep people out. It created a secure and integrated ecosystem so we could invite developers in — without sacrificing the privacy, reliability, security and quality that customers want.”
@gamoid Matt Weinberger on x
My hot take going in: I think the odds are against Epic winning, but if it can compellingly sell its arguments that the iPhone is a general purpose computing platform, it's going to lead to a lot more headaches for Apple in the very near-term future.
@jakesucky Jake Lucky on x
Today marks the start of the trial between Epic Games and Apple Two companies who make boat loads of money that want to make more money amen to that
@thedextriarchy Adi Robertson on x
This case is “a fundamental assault on Apple's secure and integrated ecosystem,” Apple's lawyer says. And it's all because “Epic, a $28 billion company, has decided it doesn't want to pay for Apple's innovations anymore.”
@gamoid Matt Weinberger on x
Whoever wins Epic vs. Apple, I just hope everybody goes out there, does their best, and has a really good time.
@iansherr Ian Sherr on x
Apple: “Apple's unwavering commitment to safety, security, reliability and quality does not allow that. And the anti trust laws do not require it.”
@iansherr Ian Sherr on x
Apple: “Because of the connection between consumers and developers with Apple's App Store, millions of businesses have been launched, that would not have otherwise existed.”
@eringriffith Erin Griffith on x
This case is also an argument about the definition of the market. Apple will argue it is gaming (including gaming platforms like Playstation, mobile web, etc) and Epic is arguing it is mobile apps, specifically iOS. “None of these devices are substitutable for smartphones.”
@thedextriarchy Adi Robertson on x
Epic's still hammering via depositions on the substantial lock-in effect once people buy an iPhone — so if Apple raises prices or does other things that should drive people to other platforms, that's going to be suppressed.
@thedextriarchy Adi Robertson on x
There are other limits to switching too. If somebody's playing Fortnite on an iPhone in a waiting room, they're “not going to, and practically cannot” make an in-app purchase on a device sitting miles away at home.
@thedextriarchy Adi Robertson on x
Epic is citing Fortnite as being a multifaceted product that includes the game part (Battle Royale), the social part (Party Royale), and a creation tool. And yes, it's funny hearing a lawyer soberly cite “Party Royale” in court.
@iansherr Ian Sherr on x
Epic arguing it is not merely a game developer (for purpose of discussing market and how it's harmed) “Evidence will show that Fortnite, something that Apple has repeatedly characterized as the game, and nearly, a game, is far more than that.”
@thedextriarchy Adi Robertson on x
The overarching theme here is that Apple's 30% fee is based on an arbitrary unilateral decision rather than any kind of response to a market, and (in Epic's reckoning) this is the hallmark of a monopolistic business.
@iansherr Ian Sherr on x
Epic: “In fact, so many bad apps made it really allegedly got through the review process, that as you can see from this exhibit, in 2017 Apple noted that more than 400,000 apps have been removed from the App Store.”
@nickstatt Nick Statt on x
Epic lawyer hitting Apple for the industry standard argument. says “the evidence the court will hear... will demonstrate otherwise” on the 70-30% split. “Among other reasons, unlike Apple, other platform owners engage in negotiation.”
@iansherr Ian Sherr on x
Epic: “We know from the documents that the App Store has been making a lot of money for many years. Eventually we discovered Apple's own calculations for App Store profit margins, nearly 75% in 2018 and 77.8% for 2019.”
@eringriffith Erin Griffith on x
Epic lawyer arguing that Apple created IAP (in-app payment for digital goods) because no app developers would use it otherwise. Says Apple has never studied whether other payment processing systems were less secure than Apple's.
@benbajarin Ben Bajarin on x
Basically, they want to argue that macOS being more “open” yet still employing strong security and privacy stands in contrast to their argument about the policies on iPhone and iOS app store.
@benbajarin Ben Bajarin on x
Seems a core angle Epic legal is going to use against Apple's security and privacy point is that macOS is more open to third-party payments and direct installs and is still secure therefore can be replicated in a secure way to iOS.
@iansherr Ian Sherr on x
Epic: “The iPhone had already attracted extraordinary customer interest, so developers had a choice: investment in iOS — by entering into non negotiable take it or leave it agreements with Apple — or forgo everyone behind the iOS walls.”
@iansherr Ian Sherr on x
Epic citing Steve Jobs: “Our purpose in the App Store is to add value to the iPhone, and that free apps do that just as well as paid apps”
@eringriffith Erin Griffith on x
@leah_nylen How did Apple implement this plan for a walled garden? “Carefully and methodically, grift by grift.”
@eringriffith Erin Griffith on x
@leah_nylen Epic's lawyers are running through a series of emails between Steve Jobs, Tim Cook, Phil Schiller, Eddy Cue and other Apple execs to make the case that the App Store was designed as a “walled garden” that locks people in.
@iansherr Ian Sherr on x
“To be clear, the garden could have had a door, there was no reason that it needed to be closed. It was artificially walled in.” Epic notes how MacOS allows apps and downloads separate from its App Store. And how it sandboxes apps to protect the system.
@tomwarren Tom Warren on x
the Epic Games vs. Apple trial has kicked off with kids screaming “free Fortnite” or “bring back Fortnite mobile” as the court didn't manage to mute participants for 20 minutes. Oops https://www.theverge.com/... 🙃 https://twitter.com/...
@pkafka Peter Kafka on x
That said, still worth watching - actually you can't watch. Gotta listen. But will feature courtroom testimony from Apple CEO Tim Cook and Epic CEO @TimSweeneyEpic - who will be attending all 3 weeks of the trial. https://twitter.com/...
@pkafka Peter Kafka on x
Apple vs Epic trial starts today. Bigger picture: Now it's Apple vs everybody. Pressure building against the App Store biz model in DC, EU, UK, Australia. https://www.vox.com/...
@patrickmcgee_ Patrick McGee on x
@Apple @epic App Store Margins (Apple has disputed these) https://twitter.com/...
@markgurman Mark Gurman on x
Apple's Phil Schiller floated reducing App Store cut in 2011 when the store reached $1b in annual profit. Apple didn't reduce commissions until end of 2020 for those generating below $1 million (aside from reduction to 15% in Year 2 of subscriptions). https://www.bloomberg.com/..…
@stroughtonsmith Steve Troughton-Smith on x
@jkingyens @markgurman ...so you're saying there's no competition? Almost like Apple's practices maneuvered it into a position where it was impossible to compete?
@alistairmbarr Alistair Barr on x
I thought Apple didn't track App Store profit?? https://twitter.com/...
@patrickmoorhead @patrickmoorhead on x
If these are wrong, then I'd love Apple to disclose what the margins are. More importantly, I'd like to know the *investment* Apple makes into the App Store to operate, improve and secure it. Huge diff between “squatter” and “innovator”. Similar to “patent troll” vs “inventor”. h…
@jkingyens Jeff Kingyens on x
@markgurman @stroughtonsmith “Someday we will see enough challenge...” Is this not proof that app store fees are driven by competitive forces? Apple isn't being monopolistic, they simply aren't being challenged. The real culprit? Google/Android.
@eringriffith Erin Griffith on x
Why did Epic spend so much time on “Project Liberty”? Sweeney: “We're challenging the two most powerful companies in the world and it would have been foolish to do anything else.”
@thedextriarchy Adi Robertson on x
Sweeney just spent hours presenting a sweeping unified Epic strategy. Apple's lawyer now trying to separate the pieces out — saying Unreal Engine still isn't banned from iOS, for instance.
@eringriffith Erin Griffith on x
We're now talking about what happened last summer and the purported “special deal”-Sweeney says there were more than a dozen outreach attempts to arrange a meeting with Apple leadership about operating its own store and payment service. Apple did not want to engage.
@timsweeneyepic Tim Sweeney on x
Epic is a company built on the aspiration of serving a new generation of developers and customers as openly and supportively as Apple did in the era when they invented personal computers. As we go into court tomorrow, it is for those original digital freedoms that we fight.

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