Apple earned over $100 million from 'Fortnite' [u]

An Apple employee testified that Apple earned more than $100 million from "Fortnite" via the 30% commission on the App Store.

The Epic Games versus Apple trial continues with revelations about both companies and how they operate. One of the more significant topics on trial is Apple's 30% commission and lack of developer payment options.

According to a report from Bloomberg, head of App Store business development for gaming, Michael Schmid, said Apple earned more than $100 million in revenue from "Fortnite" on the App Store. He would not specify a dollar amount and would not say if the number was over $200 million.

The exact amount could be closer to $300 million, as Epic earlier in the trial said it earned about $700 million in revenue from iOS App Store sales.

Epic launched "Fortnite" on the App Store in 2018 and had to pay Apple's 30% commission for each in-app purchase sold to customers. Over that time, estimates from Sensor Tower place Apple's revenue over $354 million, well north of Apple's "greater than $100 million" stated.

A report from the marketing firm in 2018 stated that "Fortnite" generated over $100 million in purchases on the App Store in just 90 days.

Schmid said Apple spent $1 million in marketing "Fortnite" during its last 11 months on the App Store. Epic's lawyer said the ad spend was a good tradeoff for the $100 million in revenue that Apple earned.

The Epic Games versus Apple trial will continue for another week as it approaches its end. Apple's CEO Tim Cook is due on the stand Friday, and ultimately the judge will decide the resolution to the conflict.

Updated with information on Epic's revenue from App Store sales.

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27 Comments

EsquireCats 1268 comments · 8 Years

About 3 years ago

Is there a reasonable rationale for Apple not being entitled to the commission?

rob53 3307 comments · 13 Years

EsquireCats said:

Is there a reasonable rationale for Apple not being entitled to the commission?

Not at all. We all know other businesses charge a lot higher percentage for hosting and selling things.

sflocal 6133 comments · 16 Years

Assuming $100m, that means Epic made (roughly) $300 million on those "7% of Fortnite users on iOS". Not a bad return.

I just don't get this. Apple is charging the same as other retail operations. If Epic feels they're being ripped off, then by all means get off of iOS and move on.

Epic may have developed Fortnite, but Apple continues to create more and better iPhones, which in turns brings in customers, and loyalty, and provides a service level that few companies can provide and an entire ecosystem that makes freeloaders like Epic a lot of money. 30% is chump change compared to how it was in the early years of boxed software.

I'd rather have 70% of $300 million than 100% of $0.

Beats 3073 comments · 4 Years

Funny one-sided story.

So Epic made over $233 million from Apple.

xyzzy-xxx 199 comments · 6 Years

EsquireCats said:

Is there a reasonable rationale for Apple not being entitled to the commission?

Well, I think it's not about that someone get a commission, but that there is only one possible channel (the Apple AppStore) that dictates the commission. Since there are only two platforms (Android and iOS) this is treated as a monopoly.