Epic Games received a $150 million offer for Fortnite but ultimately rejected it and here’s why it was a great decision: Millenium

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Although enthusiasm for Fortnite has obviously waned since its launch in 2017, it is still the most popular and played battle royale today, especially since the return of the very first unconstructed map. Google once did everything it could to get Epic Games to publish and monetize Fortnite on its store, but it never succeeded…

An offer from Google that is difficult to refuse

Shortly before its release on mobile devices, the makers of Fortnite received an offer they could hardly refuse. As the lawsuit between Google and Epic Games confirms, the technology company offered $147 million to the owners of the Battle Royale. In return, they wanted the game to only be released on the official Android app store. It goes without saying that this amount was not enough to convince the developers and publishers of one of the most popular video games in history. For this reason, the two companies are now in a legal dispute.

Google used every mechanism at its disposal to convince Epic Games to launch (and monetize) Fortnite through the App Store, but was unsuccessful. Android officials disagreed with Epic Games’ decision to bypass its device’s terms of service and took actions that the company interpreted as a violation of U.S. competition laws. In this sense the reading is clear. Rejection of the aforementioned $150 million could change the history of video games – and apps – on mobile devices forever.

Reject 150 million euros to change the history of video games

If we stick to purely financial considerations, Epic Games seems to have made a good decision. Google’s plan called for a payment of $147 million over three years. A sum that would not have made up for what Fortnite’s parents lost by simply being in the store. In fact, the Android Store charges between 15 and 30% from developers for every transaction made through its systems. In this sense, the operation would have become profitable for Google (and loss-making for Epic) once BR raised between $500 and $1 billion on that platform. To give you an idea, before its first year on iOS, the game managed to reach the same $500 million in revenue (via SensorTower).

No one expected revenue from the mobile version of Fortnite to be this high, but Android executives feared two things. First, they estimated that the absence of Fortnite from the App Store could lead to a decrease in the store’s revenue by 150 to 250 million. But above all, they feared that this decision would be contagious. Other companies could take inspiration from Epic Games’ decision, which would lead to mounting losses over the years. If this possibility is confirmed, the shortfall would rise from $550 million to $3.6 billion.