Epic Games CEO Tim Sweeney is open to Fortnite coming to Steam, Microsoft, Onestore, and plenty more. Read more to learn more information about this and Epic Games’ victory over Google.
Epic Games CEO on Steam Partnership
Fortnite on Steam Could Happen
The CEO of Epic Games, Tim Sweeney, responded to a post from Twitter(X) user Florian Mueller regarding the company’s recent lawsuit win over Google and Fortnite’s future on Android phones. Sweeney responded by saying he would be interested in bringing Fortnite to Steam, Microsoft, Onestore, or any other platform, but only if these platforms give them "an awesome deal", more specifically, the change in the 30% commission fee platforms like Steam takes in sales.
Sweeney has been known in the past for criticizing Steam, even calling the platform "a real problem for the industry.". In contrast to Steam, Epic Games has adopted a more developer-friendly business model, taking only a 12% commission on sales and providing programs like "Epic Run", where developers who consent to exclusivity on the Epic Games Store can receive 100% of the revenue for the first six months.
Epic Games Wins Lawsuit Against Google
In 2020, Epic Games filed an Antitrust lawsuit against Apple and Google for allegedly running an "illegal monopoly", demanding high fees up to 30% to developers and enforcing strict rules. The lawsuit began because Fortnite attempted to avoid paying the developer fee, which ultimately led to the game's removal from the Apple and Play Store. Although the company lost the lawsuit against Apple in 2021, Epic Games recently won its case against Google after the jury had found the company guilty on all counts of antitrust violations.
In an interview with CNBC, Sweeney credited the victory to "the brazenness of Google executives violating the law, and then deleting all of the records of violating the law." He added that the victory was also because the trial had been conducted by a jury, unlike the Apple case which was decided by a judge.
