Apple Earned Over $100M Revenue from Fortnite

As the Apple vs. Epic Games trial continues, new revelations came to light.

This week, head of App Store business development for gaming Michael Schmid revealed Wednesday, as he took the stand during the third week of an antitrust trial in federal court in California, that Apple earned over $100 million in revenue from the commission collected just from offering Fortnite on the App Store.

Apple disclosed earlier in the trial that Epic earned around $700 million from iOS App Store sales. Epic launched their game Fortnite on the App Store back in 2018 and for each in-app purchase sold to customers, they had to pay the 30% commission imposed by Apple.

According to a Bloomberg report by Mark Gurman, Schmid did not say an exact amount and refused to say if the revenue exceeded $200 million, saying that it would be inappropriate to share this information.

Epic Games’ Fortnite video game stayed nearly two years on the App Store (2018-2020) before Apple kicked out the popular game last year after Epic launched its own system for in-app payments. Epic retaliated by suing Apple, alleging that the tech giant abused its power over developers by forcing them to use Apple’s in-app payment technology, which charges them 15% to 30% commissions. Apple reasoned that it requires developers to use its systems to ensure the privacy and security of the App Store and the rates it charges are just the same as those of other gaming platforms like Microsoft Corp’s Xbox.

Despite Michael Schmid’s report being vague, a study by a mobile-app market data firm Sensor Tower estimates that the revenue was way more than $100+ million – in fact, more than $354 million for Apple.

The report from May 2020 stated, “The App Store has accounted for the majority of this revenue, with the game’s player spending more than $1 billion on Apple’s marketplace. The United States has generated the most revenue for Fortnite on mobile, accounting for $632.2 million, or approximately 63 percent of total spend. Great Britain ranked No. 2 with $38.2 million, or 3.8 percent, while Switzerland ranked No. 3 with $36.3 million, or 3.6 percent.”

The Bloomberg report also revealed, “Schmid said Apple spent $1 million in marketing for Fortnite during its last 11 months on the App Store. Epic’s lawyer, Lauren Moskowitz characterized the $1 million spent for $100 million in revenue as a good deal.”

This is the third week of the Apple vs. Epic Games trial and things get more interesting when Apple Fellow Phil Schiller revealed a whopping $50 million cost for WWDC, details on the App Store Small Business Program, and more.

For this week, Apple CEO Tim Cook is expected to appear on the stand on Friday to answer questions for 100 minutes and according to WSJ, it could be a make-or-break. Ultimately, it will be up to the judge’s decision to resolve the conflict.