Epic Games CEO Tim Sweeney has admitted the company “probably lost $1 billion” in the four years ‘Fortnite’ wasn’t available on iOS devices.
Epic Games CEO Tim Sweeney has admitted the company 'probably lost $1 billion' in the four years ‘Fortnite’ wasn’t available on iOS devices
The battle-royale title was pulled from Apple’s App Store and Google’s Play Store in 2020 after the developer launched its own payment feature in an attempt to avoid the former tech company’s in-app purchase system - which charged up to 30 per cent in commission on every sale - though has now returned to iPhones and iPads in Europe and Android devices globally after the European Union passed the Digital Markets Act (DMA), which is designed to “ensure fair and open digital markets”.
Despite the good news, Sweeney has conceded Epic likely lost a lot of money during the time the game wasn’t available on Apple devices, though insisted he made the right decision to stand up to the corporation over it's high commission rates.
In a statement, he said: “We've probably lost a billion dollars not having Fortnite on iOS the past four years. But what's the price of freedom?”
While ‘Fortnite’ is available in Europe via the Epic Games Store, iOS and MacOS users outside of the continent still won’t be able to access the title, as the DMA only applies to nations in the EU.
Still, the Epic boss emphasised this first victory was “just the beginning of a long effort to bring our games back to all these platforms worldwide”.
He added: “The fight isn't over until Apple is back on iOS everywhere, and free of Apple’s junk fees. But this is an awesome milestone.”