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Google Offered Epic $147 Million to Launch Fortnite

In a surprising turn of events, Google, the tech giant, offered Epic Games a whopping $147 million to launch Fortnite on the Play Store. This news has sent ripples through the gaming and tech communities, highlighting the high stakes and intense competition in the industry.

Epic Games : The Challenger to Google’s Play Store Monopoly

Epic Games, the game developer popularly known for Fortnite, has been reportedly arguing on Google’s monopolistic control over the Play Store for Android users, which has been violating both the state and federal antitrust laws. Google’s Vice President for Play Partnerships, Purnima Kochikar, confirmed in her testimony that the deal was approved and presented to Epic but was not accepted.

The Deal : Google’s Attempt to Secure Fortnite on Play Store

Google Offered Epic Games $147 Million — Source – Forbes India

Under the deal, the money would have been dispensed for over a three-year period of ‘incremental funding’ (which is ending in 2021) to Epic. In a document where Google has been justifying the deal, it writes that “Fortnite’s absence could result in $130 million (up to $250 million) direct revenue loss with Play” and further, there could be a “downstream impact of $550 million (up to $3.6 billion) potential revenue loss if broad contagion to other developers”.

While Google says it was afraid of game developers ditching the Play Store and that the investment was worth the money, Epic Games is using the same documents to prove that Google Play Store has a monopoly over Android app distribution. This news comes as a reminder of the intense competition and high stakes in the gaming industry, and how companies are willing to go to great lengths to secure their market position.

Adding to the above, the deal was that Google would pay that amount over a three-year period (from 2018 to 2021), but Epic declined. Google seems to have made the offer to prevent popular game publishers like Blizzard, Netease, Valve and others from bypassing the Google Play Store. However, Epic Games did not accept the deal and launched Fortnite on its website, allowing the video game maker to directly sell V-Bucks and bypass Google’s Play Store commission.

A few months after Epic Games launched Fortnite for Android, the company filed an antitrust lawsuit against Google. Citing internal documents, Epic Games said Google was afraid of a ‘contagion risk’ and said the tech giant attempted to change its decision by offering special benefits. The documents said Google had forecasted that all major mobile game developers would leave Play Store a few years after Epic decided to ditch the official Android app market. This might cause the tech giant to lose billions of dollars in revenue.

As for Fortnite, Google predicted that the game’s absence from the Play Store would lead to a revenue loss of somewhere between $130 and $250 million. If other game publishers followed Epic’s suit, the tech giant forecasted it could lose another $3.6 billion. While Google says it was afraid of game developers ditching the Play Store and that the investment was worth the money, Epic Games is using the same documents to prove that Google Play Store has a monopoly over Android app distribution.

In conclusion, the offer made by Google to Epic Games highlights the ongoing tussle between app developers and platform owners over revenue sharing and market control. As the gaming industry continues to grow, such developments will have a significant impact on the future of gaming.
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