Epic Games Store Might Break Even In 2027

And other factoids from the Epic v. Apple lawsuit.

Epic is suing Apple. Didn’t you know? Yes the ongoing lawsuit over Apple banning Fortnite from the app store is still going on, and while the trial won’t start for a little while now there are plenty of documents to pour over. This week the fact finding from both parties was published in a heavily redacted form. You can find both Apple and Google’s documents if you search the web, or just click on the link in this sentence. Both sets of documents are over 300 pages.

It’s worth a read if you really want to see two companies talk about how much good they did for the other and how little thanks they got in return for it. Otherwise there’s probably some paint drying in the house that can be observed for better entertainment. A few things did catch my eye, however, including the discussion of Epic’s profitability.

The Epic Game Store has so far yet to be profitable, a revelation that is neither shocking nor out of the ordinary. It’s rare that a store front like Epic would be profitable while also shelling out oodles of cash in order to gain market share. Considering the dollars Epic has shelled out for exclusives, annual losses are to be expected. That’s where the Fortnite dollars come in.

According to the documents, EGS lost $181 million in 2019 and is projected to lose $139 million in 2021. Epic expects the store to become profitable at the earliest in 2027.

The findings also reveal that decreased player numbers in Fortnite led the company to start Project Liberty. The purpose of Project Liberty was to challenge payment monopolies, specifically targeting Apple and Google while excluding Samsung with which Epic held a favorable side-deal. Staffed by 100-200 employees, Project Liberty’s primary goal was to draw Apple and Google into an anti-trust lawsuit.

This also culminated in Epic forming the Coalition For App Fariness group and the blitz of media campaigns designed to push negative public sentiment toward Apple and Google as customers could no longer access Fortnite on mobile.

The real question is whether the public is still interested this marketing campaign masquerading as a legitimate lawsuit.