Epic Games wants to catch up with Steam in the online gaming market , but for that it needs to open its pockets. The company is going to spend at least US$ 330 million, around R$ 1.88 billion in the quotation this Monday (12), to offer exclusive titles free of charge.
The money used to attract more players comes from the profits with ‘ Fortnite ‘, according to the website PC Gamer. In 2020 alone, US$ 444 million was spent on games exclusive to the Epic Games Store. The amounts were released because of a court battle between Epic Games and Apple .
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The developer used that $444 million, or R$2.5 billion, to ensure that certain games stayed away from Steam for a year. This is possible by offering a minimum guarantee to game publishers, who receive a certain amount even if the game doesn’t sell enough to cover it.
One of the examples was the amount paid to 505 Games. For the exclusivity in ‘Control’, in 2019, Epic Games disbursed US$ 10.45 million (R$ 59.5 million).
On the other hand, Epic Games revealed in its late 2020 report that gamers spent $700 million ($3.9 billion) on the online store. Of this total, only US$265 million (R$1.5 billion) went to third-party games. That’s where the bill for the US$ 444 million that the developer needs to get back comes in and the projection of a loss of US$ 330 million in minimum guarantees.
This lost money could be even greater by the end of 2021, in Apple’s accounts, reaching US$ 600 million (R$ 3.4 billion), which makes the Epic Games Store only profitable from 2027 onwards. The estimate integrates the arguments of the apple company to defend itself in court, on May 3rd.
Epic Games denies and claims that annual earnings will arrive in 2023, four years earlier, noting that it is not losing money, but investing to surpass Steam.
Businesses battle it out after Epic Games implements a direct payment within Fortnite. Apple removed the game from the App Store, losing its 30% share.