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Apple is reportedly leading when it comes to video game revenue, although it doesn’t develop its own major AAA consoles or games.
The Wall Street Journal reports that Apple made $ 8.5 billion in operating profits from games in 2019. According to the publication, that’s more than Nintendo, Sony, Microsoft and Activision combined.
Since the company does not manufacture or sell dedicated game consoles and does not have a major game development division, most of this profit comes from third-party games on the App Store. Apple earns revenue by taking a 30% discount on all purchases made on the App Store.
Gamers reportedly spent $ 45 billion on mobile games on the App Store in FY2020. The top two spending regions were China and the United States. In the future, Apple may see less revenue from China, as the Chinese government recently set a three-hour limit for children playing online games.
The top-spending 1% accounted for over 64% of App Store sales, spending about $ 2,694 each year. These players are known as “whales” and are often the target of microtransactions in free-to-play games.
The numbers used by the Journal were revealed in connection with the recent antitrust lawsuit between Apple and Epic, the developers of Fortnite. However, Apple claims the figures discussed were wrong and too high.
The lawsuit ended with Apple effectively banning Fortnite from returning to its App Store for years. The battle began when Epic declared Apple’s 30% charge on every Fortnite purchase a “commission theft.” Other developers have also pushed back against Apple’s App Store policies.
Apple has just released its new line of iPhones, and you can find out how it handles video games in our iPhone 13 Pro review.
Logan Plant is a freelance writer for IGN. You can find him on Twitter @LoganJPlant.
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