Epic Games v. Apple by the numbers: Fortnite is worth that much money?

Arguments in the pitched legal battle between Epic and Apple over control of the iOS App Store are set to wrap up in the next few days. From the opening arguments onward, the legal maneuvering has involved plenty of arcane points of fact and law, from the precise definition of the market in question to the effectiveness of Apple's iOS security procedures to the definition of "game" itself.

Amid all that wrangling, the case has also given the general public increased visibility into the numbers that drive Apple's and Epic's businesses. We've already taken a deep dive into the money-losing metrics behind the Epic Games Store revealed at the trial. Here's a quick run-down of some more interesting numbers presented in court highlighting the relative sizes of the iOS gaming business—and Fortnite in particular.

(Unless otherwise noted, all the numbers here come from company evidence presented in court documents or testimony in the court itself.)

The iOS gaming market

• 75% - Proportion of distinct iOS games that are completely free to the end user (many make money off of in-game ads)
• 17% - Proportion of distinct iOS games that, like Fortnite, are free to download and make money through in-app purchases (these are the games most directly affected in this case)
• 6% - Proportion of distinct iOS games that charge players money up front
• 2% - Proportion of distinct iOS games that are "subscription-type apps"

 

• $20 billion - Total revenue Apple raised from App Store commission fees between 2008 and 2017
• 62% - Total proportion of App Store revenue generated by games

 

• 10.2% - Share of Fortnite players that played on iOS between March 2018 and July 2020
• 11.1 million - Fortnite monthly active users on iOS in December 2019
• 92% - Estimated percentage of iOS App Store users that regularly used another device that could access digital gaming content

 

• $1 million - Phil Schiller's estimate for how much Apple spent assisting Epic with marketing and other tasks surrounding Fortnite for iOS
• $700 million - Estimated total revenue generated by Fortnite players on iOS before the game was removed from the App Store
• $237 million - Total Fortnite commissions Epic paid to Apple between January 2017 and October 2020.

Epic and the Fortnite juggernaut

• 46.8% - Share of total Fortnite revenue generated by PlayStation players between March 2018 and July 2020
• 27.5% - Share of total Fortnite revenue generated by Xbox players between March 2018 and July 2020
• 9.6% - Share of total Fortnite revenue generated by PC players between March 2018 and July 2020
• 8.4% - Share of total Fortnite revenue generated by Switch players between March 2018 and July 2020
• 7% - Share of total Fortnite revenue generated by iOS players between March 2018 and July 2020

 

• $237 million - Total Fortnite commissions Epic paid to Apple between January 2017 and October 2020
• $246 million - Total Fortnite commissions Epic paid to Microsoft in 2020 alone
• $451 million - Total Fortnite commissions Epic paid to Sony in 2020 alone
• $2.49 billion - Total Fortnite commissions Epic paid across all platforms in 2018 and 2019

 

• $9.65 billion - Approximate gross revenue generated by Fortnite across 2018 and 2019
• $400 million - Revenue Epic made from Fortnite in April 2020 alone
• 98% - Proportion of Epic's total gross revenue represented by Fortnite in 2018 and 2019

 

• $108 million - Epic earnings from "other games" in 2018 and 2019 (primarily Rocket League and Battle Breakers)
• $221 million - Epic earnings from "Engine Revenue" in 2018 and 2019
• $235 million - Revenue earned by the Epic Games Store in 2018 and 2019
• $100 million - Revenue Epic generated from "Merchandise/Other" in 2018 and 2019

 

• $5.5 billion - Total profit generated by Epic Games in 2018 and 2019

 

• $200 million - Proposed payment Epic offered to Sony to secure a number of PlayStation exclusives as Epic Games Store exclusives on the PC