04/05/212
Epic Games boss Tim Sweeney has revealed that Sony can extract compensation from game publishers that implement cross-play in their video games, though this only comes into effect in certain circumstances.
The revelation came as part of the first day of the Epic Games vs. Apple court case, with Sweeney’s time on the stand detailing how the Fortnite developer relentlessly pushed Sony to allow them to implement cross-play for their game. Sony dragged their heels on the matter, given the dominance of the PlayStation 4 on the market, but eventually did allow for cross-play in certain games.
– ARTICLE CONTINUES BELOW –
If somebody were primarily playing on PlayStation, but paying on iPhone then this might trigger compensation.
The Verge also reports that Sony s policy stipulates publishers can t transfer virtual currency to or from PlayStation, and there must be a setting to disable all cross-platform interactions.
The Verge also says Sweeney confirmed Sony is the only platform holder that requires this compensation for crossplay.
Eurogamer has asked Sony for comment.
Sony only enabled crossplay on PlayStation 4 games back in September 2018 after enormous public pressure and negative press that had ramped up over the course of a year.
Speaking on the issue, then PlayStation Worldwide Studios boss Shawn Layden pointed to technical, business and customer service issues the company had to sort out.
What you need to know
Epic s lawsuit with Apple has revealed emails and documents dating back to 2018 showing Epic in conversation with Sony regarding Fortnite cross-play on PlayStation.
PlayStation had wanted publishers to pay royalties on cross-play titles determined on the PSN Revenue Share divided by PS4 Gameplay Share.
Epic CEO Tim Sweeney has now stated in court that his company is forced to compensate Sony for Fortnite s cross-play.
Epic s lawsuit with Apple has unearthed a lot of information as the trial began today. When Epic CEO Tim Sweeney was asked to take the stand, he revealed that his company pays Sony for cross-play support on PS4 and PS5, making it the only platform holder to require additional compensation (via The Verge).
Sony may have been charging developers to implement cross-platform play on PlayStation.
That s according to new documents surfaced as part of the ongoing Apple vs. Epic lawsuit, as well as testimony from Epic CEO Tim Sweeney.
Sweeney confirmed in court that Sony is the only platform that asks for crossplay compensation. He also stated that Epic agreed to pay these fees to enable crossplay in the PlayStation version of Fortnite.
Details of Sony s cross-platform revenue share were revealed in a 2019 document, shared by The Verge. This document showed Sony demanding a royalty payment whenever a significant number of PlayStation users contributed to a title s earnings. This is in order to offset the reduction in revenue caused by cross-platform functionality.
Share
Fortnite made more than £3.6billion ($5billion USD) revenue for Epic Games within its first year of release, new documents reveal.
The documents, made available as part of Epic and Apple’s ongoing legal battle over the implementation of App Store policies and how they affect earnings for Epic from
Fortnite, were uploaded on
The Vergeas part of its case coverage.
As part of the case, Epic Games CEO Tim Sweeney gave a testimony yesterday (May 2) about the nature of Epic’s business and
Fortnite‘s place in it.
New York Times reporter Erin Griffith covered Sweeney’s testimony on Twitter, and wrote that Sweeney had stated that Epic made £3.6billion ($5.1billion USD) gross revenue in 2020.