Fortnite creator Epic picks a calculated, but perilous, fight with the two leading mobile giants.
It’s obvious by now that Epic Games was hoping for a war when it announced its V-bucks “direct payment” option. It was one of the most well-planned and well-executed PR stunts in the history of the video game industry. And while the company got a lot of support initially after swift reactions by Google and Apple, this is not likely going to be a short fight. And the longer it goes on, the greater the odds that Epic — and Fortnite — might lose not only the support of its fan base, but millions of dollars as well. Epic founder Tim Sweeney has never been afraid of a good fight. In fact, he seems to revel in them occasionally. Think back four years and you’ll recall he accused Microsoft of virtually the same thing he’s alleging Apple and Google are doing – running a monopoly. “In my view, this is the most aggressive move Microsoft has ever made,” said Sweeney at the time in an op-ed published by The Guardian. “They are working to turn today’s open PC ecosystem into a closed, Microsoft-controlled distribution and commerce monopoly, over time, in a series of steps of which we’re seeing the very first.” That battle, in some ways, led to Epic opening the Epic Games Store — a competitor to the Windows Store and Steam. And that venture has been remarkably successful for the company. It’s highly doubtful that Epic plans to launch a phone line to take on Apple and Google, of course. But the lawsuits it filed after Apple and Google stripped Fortnite from their app stores potentially pave the way for an expansion of its own retail efforts.
