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- Recent Apple filings detail the immense behind-the-scenes support that Apple has provided to Epic Games over the past two years.
- Apple notes that Epic repeatedly threatened to remove all your games from the App Store if Apple didn’t agree to your requests. Epic also threatened launching Fortnite updates on other platforms first if Apple did not comply.
- Apple recently said the Epic lawsuit was nothing more than a ploy to “reinvigorate interest in Fortnite” amid declining revenue.
One of the most puzzling arguments in favor of Epic Games in its legal battle with Apple is that Apple, in addition to running the distribution platform that is the App Store, does not do much to guarantee a 30% commission on microtransactions. However, this skewed perspective tends to minimize the immense amount of resources Apple has spent creating a vibrant app ecosystem. In a recent court filing, for example, Apple said it spends hundreds of millions of dollars a year employing engineers who contribute to the App Store and “many billions of dollars a year” in data centers that are expressly set up to facilitate App Store. .
Beyond that, a court filing by Mark Grimm, a game developer manager at Apple, highlights the extent to which Apple went to great lengths to accommodate Epic Games in recent years. If you think Epic just released Fortnite in the App Store and Apple, as a result, you could just relax and see the purchase money within the application, a little surprise awaits you.
As Grimm details, Apple and Epic engineers for the past two years have been in “almost constant contact” to ensure that Fortnite It could work optimally at all times and on a variety of devices. Grim notes that Apple provided Epic with a substantial amount of engineering support to “reduce Fortnite’s memory footprint,” allowing it to run on older iPhone models.
Grimm adds:
Additionally, Apple has also provided hardware to Epic, including 16 Apple Silicon Developer Transition Kits across Epic’s engineering organization, to ensure high-performance operation of Unreal Engine 4 and the future Unreal Engine 5 on upcoming computers. Macintosh with new Apple silicon processors. This represents as much support as Apple provides to most other developers. Additionally, in response to repeated demands from Epic, Apple has allowed Epic to distribute builds on some 950 iPads and 1,150 iPhones for application development and testing purposes, again as much as Apple assigns to any other developer. These assignments are valuable to Epic as they magnify the company’s ability to fine-tune its applications and refine its products before they are released to users.
Beyond that, Grimm writes that Apple routinely tells Epic about new iOS technologies and even sends engineers to consult with Epic at the company’s North Carolina headquarters to help them get up to speed.
Grimm also details the extent to which Apple helped Epic improve their Unreal Engine:
For example, Apple has trained the Epic team on how to adopt new ARKit (augmented reality) and virtual reality features on the Unreal Engine, and to provide similar support to developers using the Unreal Engine and wanting to use the ARKit features. Apple has also invested significant engineering resources to improve the performance of the Unreal Engine with Apple’s Metal graphics system on iOS and Mac hardware and software. Apple’s professional hardware / workflow architecture team has also helped optimize Unreal Engine on Mac for creative workflows, virtual sets and CI / building systems. And Apple has also assisted Epic in the Unreal Engine’s adoption of the features necessary for the inclusion of games in the new Apple Arcade service. All this support for Unreal Engine adds to the large amount of daily work that Apple’s engineering teams put in on their commitments to Epic.
A separate presentation by Mike Schmid, Apple’s Head of Gaming Business Development, sheds even more light on the behind-the-scenes support that Apple has provided to Epic Games over the years.
One particularly interesting tidbit from Schmid is that Epic routinely threatened to release Fortnite updates on competing platforms first if Apple didn’t “accommodate their requests.” Schmid also said that Epic repeatedly threatened to “terminate its relationship with Apple and remove its games” from the App Store if Apple failed to comply with the company’s demands.
Schmid further details that Apple was so committed to meeting Epic’s demands and needs that it adjusted its Epic relationship team to provide the company with 24-hour support:
Apple’s support for Epic began even before Fortnite’s initial launch on iOS in March 2018, which occurred through a region-by-region invite-only user system. Handling the logistics of launching such a unique app required a substantial effort from multiple members of both the App Store and the Developer Relations team. From that point on, through several major update releases and holiday seasons, the Apple App Store team provided a direct deal to address ongoing questions from Epic, which often involved calls and texts midway through. of the night that they demanded brief -response support requests, which Apple constantly accommodated. Ultimately, I brought in a business development colleague stationed in Australia to the Epic relationship team, so that we could provide Epic with 24-hour coverage.
Schmid adds that Apple even worked closely with Epic to enable in-game features (through the creation of new App Store guidelines) that were previously not allowed, such as in-app gifting.
“This example,” Schmid writes, “demonstrates Apple’s attention to the developer community, including the needs of developers like Epic, who in this case requested that Apple be able to adapt on terms that would apply equally to all developers, large and small, and that, at the same time, would adequately guarantee user safety. “
Some additional tidbits from Schmid include:
- Epic told Apple that iOS revenue represents the “smallest slice of the pie.”
- Specifically, Epic told Schmid that “Apple accounts for only seven percent of Epic’s revenue.”
- Compared to iOS, Apple writes that Fortnite on Xbox and Playstation it generates 70% and 40% more average revenue per daily active user, respectively.
- Fortnite downloaded nearly 130 million times worldwide on iOS devices
- Epic has made more than $ 550 million through iOS alone
- In 2019, Apple “accelerated the review of the app in response to nearly all of Epic’s more than 80 urgent requests.”
- During the 11-month period prior to Fortnite’s removal from the App Store, Apple spent more than “$ 1 million on paid media promotions from Provided. “
- Fortnite is the most prominent game in the history of the App Store.
The presentations can be seen below:
Schmid’s statement can be viewed here.
A lifelong Mac user and Apple enthusiast, Yoni Heisler has written about Apple and the technology industry in general for over 6 years. His writing has appeared on Edible Apple, Network World, MacLife, Macworld UK, and most recently, TUAW. When he’s not writing and analyzing the latest happenings with Apple, Yoni enjoys watching improv shows in Chicago, playing soccer, and cultivating new addictions to television shows; the most recent examples are The Walking Dead and Broad City.
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