App Store dispute with Apple: Epic Games submits legal bill
Epic Games has won an important partial trial against Apple in the USA. The iPhone manufacturer is now to pay part of the legal fees.
Epic Games logo, banknotes, legal papers: the games company invested heavily in the dispute with Apple.
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Now that Epic Games has achieved an interim victory in its long-running legal dispute with Apple over the opening of the App Store, CEO Tim Sweeney is spilling the beans on what has been invested in the proceedings so far. The "Fortnite" boss told the US business website Business Insider that the legal fees and court costs alone for the dispute, which has been ongoing since 2020, have amounted to 100 million US dollars to date.
Sweeney: "It was worth it"
But it didn't stop there: by leaving the App Store, Epic Games' games would have generated significantly less revenue. Sweeney estimates that the total amount that the legal dispute has cost so far "with all the extras" is over one billion dollars. The turnover for "Fortnite" alone is said to have amounted to 300 million dollars in the App Store in two years. However, the game was still comparatively new at the time and was in the middle of the hype of the gaming scene.
Despite the enormous costs – that Epic Games would like to recoup from Apple, if this is legally possible –, Sweeney believes that the legal dispute was "totally worth it". The investors have therefore largely stuck with it. "They believe in our vision and our potential." They ultimately want to "build the metaverse" and develop "Fortnite" from a game into an open platform with billions of players. Apple is trying to control the "revenue tap" in order to extract "all the profits". The Epic Games investors know this, which is why they are supporting the fight.
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Epic's own app store cheaper than Apple
Sweeney emphasized that Epic Games helps other developers with its approach and then also benefits from their success. "Epic is one of the few companies in the industry that is positioned in such a way that we really have to fight for everyone. And I don't feel bad about that."
In fact, the company is also trying to implement its own app store on iOS. For example, the EU has its Epic Games Store with around 30 million installations according to the latest count, and the games company has now also implemented a web shopping option for developers following its partial victory in the USA. This allows them to use the platform free of charge for sales of less than one million dollars per year; above this amount, a 12 percent commission is charged. Apple wants 15 percent for sales of less than one million dollars, and later 30 percent.
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