Fortnite developer, Epic Games, is trying to get Google to lower its 30% revenue share on in-game purchases. There is no easy way for Epic to avoid giving up the revenue that goes through the app store since both Google and Apple own the distribution platforms. There is an exception on the Android side. Games like Fortnite can be sideloaded because the operating system allows for downloaded apps from the web.
Epic claims that it’s standing up to the app industry giants to break the standard model. Epic actually may have a bit of leverage given the popularity of Fortnite, but Google has already denied their first request to lower fees. Google and Apple make a ton of money off the in-app fees they charge developers in their app stores.
If Epic is really serious about taking a stand against the big guns, they will pull their game from the stores – a form of a strike. It would be a gutsy strategy that could lose hundreds of thousands of in-app purchases in the short run. And if it doesn’t bring Google and Apple to the table, it could bring down the house.
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