Maybe it’s no coincidence that Sony has taken a stake in Tim Sweeney’s company…

Yesterday we wrote about Epic Games being eyed by a major tech company five years ago, but the deal fell through, but now Epic is in the news for a different reason, related to the ongoing lawsuit between Epic Games and Google. Tim Sweeney, CEO of Epic Games, claims that Sony is preventing Epic from passing on savings to customers on games like Fortnite. This could presumably be a condition of Epic’s contract with Sony…

In 2020, Epic Games sues Google over the tech company’s 30% profit margin (on Google Play Store sales), and then does the same to Apple (and a similar percentage on the App Store). In 2021, most of Epic’s claims failed, but the company appealed with Apple, and this year a ruling was made in Apple’s favor, but meanwhile the case against Google is still ongoing (the case went to trial in the US District Court for the Northern District of California on November 7).

According to The Verge, Sweeney claims that he cannot make in-game items cheaper on Sony’s platforms because he could pass the discount on to the consumer, as the price is the same on and off PlayStation. According to Google, Epic’s agreement with Sony is suspect because Sony is a shareholder in Epic. Sweeney added that the PC version of Fortnite has a higher profit margin on the game’s currency (V-Buck), as there is no profit margin as there is on Android and iOS. Google’s lawyer asked if Epic would make millions if Fortnite had a direct payment method from Epic Games. He laughed and said that if he didn’t have to pay Google, his company would make billions!

So Google wants to protect its own money, while Epic could make a much bigger profit. And the deal with Sony is understandable because there is no favoritism.

Source: GameRant