It feels like it's been a very long time since Epic Games, the company behind the massive battle royale title Fortnite, filed a lawsuit against Apple. In reality, Epic Games filed the lawsuit against Apple back in August of 2020, meaning it's only been about six months since the feud between the two massive companies began.
Even now, the course case between the two behemoth companies is still ongoing and new developments in the story continue to come out. Now, in an interview with CNN, Epic Game's CEO Tim Sweeney talks fairly openly about the company's ideology in regards to going head-to-head with such a massive corporation like Apple.
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The full interview is a very interesting read, but there are a few stand out points that really give some insight into Epic Games' thought process and stance when tackling this legal battle. First and foremost, Sweeney talks about Epic Game's independence as a company, saying, "We're still a highly independent company who's not beholden to public markets in which we have to show ever-increasing profits. And anything like a fight like this [with Apple and Google], which loses us money for a year or more, would never be tolerated. So we have the financial independence to do that."
Essentially, because Apple and Google don't provide the majority of Epic Games' income, the company can take the risk of taking on these companies in a legal battle while maintaining some profits. Of course, while Fortnite's overall revenue drops because Epic Games is losing out on mobile platforms associated with Google and Apple, the company still has other means of recouping that lost revenue. Additionally, Sweeney also mentions that unlike other companies, Epic Games is "private" and "majority controlled by one person."
While the legal battle between the three companies obviously comes with some big risks and sacrifices, these unique assets are what allows Epic Games to take them on in the first place. Still, Sweeney declined to comment on how much Epic Games was spending on legal fees, meaning the cost must be quite high. Additionally, Sweeney admitted the legal battle takes up a lot of the senior leadership's time over at Epic. The interview continues on, with Sweeney detailing what the company hopes to gain by taking on Apple and Google, as well as what the future of the industry looks like for Epic.
Those interested in diving deeper into Sweeney's thoughts on the situation should definitely check out the full interview over at CNN. It goes without saying, but this Epic Games and Apple situation has been fascinating to watch unfold over the past few months. Even more fascinating is that Epic claims its Apple App store rebellion was planned months in advance, meaning Epic had been calculating the fallout for quite some time already. For now, interested parties will have to wait and see just how this legal battle shakes out in the coming months.
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Source: CNN