Epic CEO Blames PlayStation for Expensive Fortnite

During the current legal dispute between Epic Games, the developer of Fortnite, and Google, Sony suffered some setbacks today.

Tim Sweeney, the CEO of Epic, was questioned about the pricing of Fortnite and tried to shift the blame onto Sony. He argued that Epic was unable to offer customers lower prices due to a contractual clause. According to Sweeney, a so-called Most Favored Nations (MFN) clause in the contract with Sony prevents the makers of Fortnite from selling the game “at a lower price than we sell it on the PlayStation”.

Epic’s dispute with Sony and Google

Epic Games, the developer of the popular game Fortnite, is currently embroiled in a legal battle with both Google and Apple over their app store fees and practices. In the case of Google, Fortnite was removed from the Play Store in 2020 after Epic Games complained about the 30% commission fee charged by Google. Epic Games CEO Tim Sweeney then launched a lawsuit against Google, alleging that they have “de facto control” over the availability of apps on Android.

During the ongoing court proceedings, Sweeney claimed that the reason for Fortnite‘s expensive prices was due to a Most Favored Nations (MFN) clause in their contract with Sony. This clause prevents Epic Games from selling the game at a lower price on other platforms than they do on PlayStation. Sweeney stated that the clause was a normal part of PlayStation contracts and denied any shady behavior on Sony’s part.

Sony is known for including MFN clauses in their contracts, as seen in their contract with Spotify. The clause is used to ensure that players don’t flock to other platforms in search of lower prices. Google’s lawyers perceived Sony’s MFN clause as shady, but Sweeney denied this perception.

Epic Games also launched a lawsuit against Apple for similar practices. The trial ran from May 3 to May 24, 2021, but was appealed earlier this year. Epic lost all but one of the 10 counts.

Overall, Epic Games is fighting against what they see as unfair practices by both Google and Apple in their app stores. The legal battles continue, and it remains to be seen what the outcome will be.

About Epic Games

Epic Games is an American company in the video game industry that was founded in 1991 by Tim Sweeney. The headquarters are located in Cary, North Carolina. Epic Games is best known for developing and publishing video games and for providing the Unreal Engine, a powerful game development environment.

One of Epic Games’ flagship products is the Unreal Engine, a graphics engine used in many successful games. It enables game developers to create high-quality, realistic graphics and is widely used in various industries, including film production and architectural visualization.