Epic Games is keeping 'Fortnite' off Microsoft xCloud because it sees it as a rival

Posted:
in General Discussion edited April 2021
Epic Games is intentionally holding off on making "Fortnite" available on Microsoft's xCloud service because it views the platform as competition.

Credit: Epic Games
Credit: Epic Games


A new deposition made public as part of the Apple v. Epic Games case and seen by The Verge indicates that Epic views Microsoft's offering as a rival to its own platforms. More than that, the "Fortnite" maker is deliberately keeping the game off the platform as a result.

Epic Vice President of Business Development Joe Kreiner was questioned about the game's availability in the deposition and said that the company "viewed Microsoft's efforts with xCloud to be competitive with our PC offerings."

In 2020, Epic partnered with Nvidia to launch "Fortnite" on the GeForce Now cloud gaming service. As part of that collaboration, all revenue that "Fortnite" makes on the platform goes back to Epic Games instead of Nvidia.

As The Verge notes, that's likely a key reason why Epic didn't partner with Microsoft. Currently, Microsoft doesn't allow any rival game stores, and all transactions must go through its own payment platform. In the deposition, Kreiner admits that Epic hasn't attempted to negotiate with Microsoft about the requirement to use the first-party app stores or payment platforms.

Epic Games' main argument against Apple's App Store is the fact that Apple doesn't allow third-party app stores or payment systems. In fact, Epic Games took advantage of this by implementing a direct payment system to bait Apple into removing "Fortnite," kicking off the ongoing dispute.

Although Epic Games claims to be fighting for developer profits by arguing that Apple takes too much of its revenue, other documents seen by The Verge indicate that "Fortnite" on iOS only accounted for about 7% of Epic's total revenue. In fact, the lion's share of Epic Games' revenue actually comes from Sony, which generated 46.8% of the company's cash.

Stay on top of all Apple news right from your HomePod. Say, "Hey, Siri, play AppleInsider," and you'll get latest AppleInsider Podcast. Or ask your HomePod mini for "AppleInsider Daily" instead and you'll hear a fast update direct from our news team. And, if you're interested in Apple-centric home automation, say "Hey, Siri, play HomeKit Insider," and you'll be listening to our newest specialized podcast in moments.
«1

Comments

  • Reply 1 of 26
    sflocalsflocal Posts: 6,092member
    Although Epic Games claims to be fighting for developer profits by arguing that Apple takes too much of its revenue, other documents seen by The Verge indicate that "Fortnite" on iOS only accounted for about 7% of Epic's total revenue. In fact, the lion's share of Epic Games' revenue actually comes from Sony, which generated 46.8% of the company's cash.
    7% of profits that have been completely eaten away by Epic's ego-trip.  Interesting to see the hypocrisy Epic is displaying as these hidden back-room dealings are revealed.
    Beatsdocbburkwatto_cobra
  • Reply 2 of 26
    d_2d_2 Posts: 117member
    Epic: “let’s not go after Sony’s platform where much of our revenue is made - rather, let’s go after Apple’s and only risk 7% - if we win and a new precedent is set we can then negotiate with Sony, et al”
    BeatsFileMakerFellerwatto_cobra
  • Reply 3 of 26
    JinTechJinTech Posts: 1,020member
    d_2 said:
    Epic: “let’s not go after Sony’s platform where much of our revenue is made - rather, let’s go after Apple’s and only risk 7% - if we win and a new precedent is set we can then negotiate with Sony, et al”
    Isn't Sony heavily invested in Epic?
    pulseimages
  • Reply 4 of 26
    entropysentropys Posts: 4,152member
    Do people still play fortnite? It’s so 2018.
    pulseimagesravnorodomwatto_cobra
  • Reply 5 of 26
    elijahgelijahg Posts: 2,753member
    Not a good look when they're going after Apple for antitrust issues.
  • Reply 6 of 26
    BeatsBeats Posts: 3,073member
    Wow that’s very anti-competitive of them!
    watto_cobra
  • Reply 7 of 26
    igorskyigorsky Posts: 752member
    If I didn't know that Epic was a mismanaged shitpile, I'd think this story was fake.
    tmayfahlmanFileMakerFellerwatto_cobra
  • Reply 8 of 26
    By Epic's own argument, that's Epic abusing Epic's monopoly on Fortnite and v-bucks—or whatever...

    I think a court should look into Epic's actions, because they are anti-competitive and abusive. It is a constitutional right to play shitty games on shitty Windows machines and people should not stand for corporations telling them what they can or can't do!
    GabyFileMakerFellerwatto_cobra
  • Reply 9 of 26
    cpsrocpsro Posts: 3,192member
    Chicken-sh!t.
    Apple should use this in their defense.
    watto_cobra
  • Reply 10 of 26
    9secondkox29secondkox2 Posts: 2,666member
    so... isn't that what keeping iMessage off android is?

    these clowns at epic...
    watto_cobra
  • Reply 11 of 26
    JinTech said:
    d_2 said:
    Epic: “let’s not go after Sony’s platform where much of our revenue is made - rather, let’s go after Apple’s and only risk 7% - if we win and a new precedent is set we can then negotiate with Sony, et al”
    Isn't Sony heavily invested in Epic?
      Do you consider $250m "heavily invested?"
    https://www.crunchbase.com/organization/epic-games-2/company_financials
    watto_cobra
  • Reply 12 of 26
    docbburkdocbburk Posts: 109member
    I hope Epic is forced to pay apple’s legal expenses when this crap is over
    watto_cobra
  • Reply 13 of 26
    davidwdavidw Posts: 2,036member
    JinTech said:
    d_2 said:
    Epic: “let’s not go after Sony’s platform where much of our revenue is made - rather, let’s go after Apple’s and only risk 7% - if we win and a new precedent is set we can then negotiate with Sony, et al”
    Isn't Sony heavily invested in Epic?
      Do you consider $250m "heavily invested?"
    https://www.crunchbase.com/organization/epic-games-2/company_financials
    Not just $250M, but another $20OM just 2 weeks ago. Sony invested $250M in an earlier funding round just last year and invested another $200M in this latest funding round. So that's a total of $450M that Sony has already invested, in less than a year. 

    https://www.theverge.com/2021/4/13/22381691/epic-games-sony-investment-fortnite-fall-guys-rocket-league
  • Reply 14 of 26
    GabyGaby Posts: 190member
    Ahhh…..I get it now!!!

    The only competition that Epic is interested in is Zero competition. 
    watto_cobra
  • Reply 15 of 26
    michelb76michelb76 Posts: 612member
    entropys said:
    Do people still play fortnite? It’s so 2018.
    People still play Tetris, Patience, Poker, etc.
  • Reply 16 of 26
    crowleycrowley Posts: 10,453member
    d_2 said:
    Epic: “let’s not go after Sony’s platform where much of our revenue is made - rather, let’s go after Apple’s and only risk 7% - if we win and a new precedent is set we can then negotiate with Sony, et al”
    I don't think that's an unreasonable strategy.  Having to "bet the company" on a law suit is a great way to discourage lawsuits, which is problematic when grievances are legitimate.
  • Reply 17 of 26
    crowleycrowley Posts: 10,453member

    In 2020, Epic partnered with Nvidia to launch "Fortnite" on the GeForce Now cloud gaming service. As part of that collaboration, all revenue that "Fortnite" makes on the platform goes back to Epic Games instead of Nvidia.
    That makes it seem like nVidia are pretty desperate for content on GeForce Now.
    FileMakerFeller
  • Reply 18 of 26
    michelb76 said:
    entropys said:
    Do people still play fortnite? It’s so 2018.
    People still play Tetris, Patience, Poker, etc.
    Wow. That's so 1980. Pong is awesome. 70s rule. 
    edited April 2021 watto_cobra
  • Reply 19 of 26
    JinTechJinTech Posts: 1,020member
    davidw said:
    JinTech said:
    d_2 said:
    Epic: “let’s not go after Sony’s platform where much of our revenue is made - rather, let’s go after Apple’s and only risk 7% - if we win and a new precedent is set we can then negotiate with Sony, et al”
    Isn't Sony heavily invested in Epic?
      Do you consider $250m "heavily invested?"
    https://www.crunchbase.com/organization/epic-games-2/company_financials
    Not just $250M, but another $20OM just 2 weeks ago. Sony invested $250M in an earlier funding round just last year and invested another $200M in this latest funding round. So that's a total of $450M that Sony has already invested, in less than a year. 

    https://www.theverge.com/2021/4/13/22381691/epic-games-sony-investment-fortnite-fall-guys-rocket-league
    That sounds like are pretty heavily invested.
  • Reply 20 of 26
    JinTechJinTech Posts: 1,020member
    crowley said:

    In 2020, Epic partnered with Nvidia to launch "Fortnite" on the GeForce Now cloud gaming service. As part of that collaboration, all revenue that "Fortnite" makes on the platform goes back to Epic Games instead of Nvidia.
    That makes it seem like nVidia are pretty desperate for content on GeForce Now.
    And they were using Fortnite as bait to get people to see what else they were offering to keep a solid subscription rate.
    watto_cobra
Sign In or Register to comment.