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The Verge: Google says it won’t grant Fortnite an exemption to the Play Store’s 30 percent cut
- Thread starter Saucycarpdog
- Start date
I don't know what's funnier: the fact that Epic thought they could bully Google into giving them a special deal, or the baloney Epic subsequently spouted about how they weren't trying to get a special deal.
"distribute our game for us for free, also take less money from your only monetization method involved in this entire transaction"
If you type "Fortnite" into the Google Play Store, you get a message:
"Fortnite Battle Royale by Epic Games, Inc is not available on Google Play"
I've never seen a message like that before. Huh.
"Fortnite Battle Royale by Epic Games, Inc is not available on Google Play"
I've never seen a message like that before. Huh.
Already a thing: they've converted the Android Fortnite downloader to handle multiple games, and released a second game to go with it (Battle Breakers, a game I have literally only seen mentioned in YouTube sponsor spots).
wonder if this is the reason why fortnite isnt on stadia as well
also does Epic pay Apple a cut as well? Or are they exempt?
also does Epic pay Apple a cut as well? Or are they exempt?
That's the punchline: no, they're paying 30% to Apple without complaining about it.
Apple has a big enough market share of devices that can actually run Fortnite Mobile that if they want it to be worth it, they kinda have to. Stadia is going to have barely a fraction of the consumer base that PCs and Consoles have so it kinda makes sense to see what you can get away with.
What about the billions of Android devices? Isn't this for mobile too and not only Stadia?
FYI, Apple comprises a majority of where the mobile revenue is, like nearly twice the amount despite being on fewer devices.
This is the play store, it's on every android device out there. The number of android devices that can run fortnite dwarfs the iOS ecosystem.
Soooo... the more popular a store is, the more entitled to a cut it should take? That seems to be saying the audience size of a platform is a tangible benefit worth additional money.
Is that what epic is saying with their actions here??
Apple controls the iOS platform's software distribution.
Google does not control Android software distribution. Epic can get the game and its microtransactions onto the platform without their help, whereas they are pretty much beholden to Apple's rules.
Boy, that strong-armed walled garden curation stuff really sucks for developers, huh?
No, his point was that their store was more popular than the play store.
na he's saying the data shows those on the iOS platform spend more than those in the play store, its been like that for years and because as you mentioned, Apple's walled garden approach leaves Epic with little recourse but to take it
Considering the revenue is so much higher on iOS, the 30% is worth it. Money talks.
I think he knows, he's drawing a parallel between Epic vs Steam lol
No, it wasn't. His point was that Apple has less users but those less users spend more individually (and as an aggregate) than Android's higher number of less-spending users. Android is still more popular. Apple is more lucrative.
The reason for the snark here is that Epic is wheeling out the exact same argument against the Google Play Store that they peddled against Steam. The fact that they're doing this after asking Google for a special deal and getting flatly denied is hilarious. The fact that Epic is even attempting this after setting up their own infrastructure to bypass the Google Play Store entirely is probably indicative of declining performance on Android, or it could be aforementioned lack of interest in Battle Breakers.
Now, if Epic tries to repeat the same nonsense with Steam, that'll be icing on the cake.
Now, if Epic tries to repeat the same nonsense with Steam, that'll be icing on the cake.
Sounds like a large audience for a store is well worth the money, then.
If there wasn't some advantage to a walled garden then Epic wouldn't be trying to weasel its way into Google's walled garden.
I think Epic's position is the same as in the Spotify/Apple case. Epic wants to be able to use their own in-house payment processing platform rather than being forced to use Google Play, which automatically takes a 30% cut.
That because they don't have a choice. You can't side-load apps without jailbreaking, while android you just flip a switch.
Ah, so like if you boast about how your platform has millions upon millions of users, but they are only playing one single game and those users aren't translating into sales for other games, it's probably not worth it to put all your eggs in that basket, especially at the expense of foregoing the storefront where most people buy things.
Battlebreakers is absolute ass so let's just leave that out of the equation.
As for the bolded re: declining performance on Android--I don't think that's a factor. The clear reason is that offering an individual APK download is too high a barrier of entry for most Android users and it's hurting their user acquisition. With Fortnite performance declining across the board, to maintain revenue, they're trying to open up the funnel.
Epic really will seek that full profit as hard as they can. I'm surprised there hasn't been mention of them trying to make deals with Nintendo, Sony and Microsoft for Fortnite purchases.
I have to wonder if they actually weighed the pros and cons of telling people to jailbreak their iPhones to sideload Fortnite.
You can bet anything, that in this forum, somehow EVERYTHING is related to Epic and Steam in the end.