Fortnite could be with us for the next few (human) generations, judging by how Epic Games' founder and CEO Tim Sweeney is talking. Success in the games industry is now measured in decades, and the battle for the future looks like it will be fought, in part (and to the groans of millions of core gamers), by publishing transmedia IP on mobile, which Sony has long been arming for.
Once an experimental spin-off, Fortnite is now a vast, self-sustaining gaming ecosystem. It has been a paradigm-shifting success for Epic, which already occupied a position of dominance in an industry that increasingly adopts (and licenses) its admittedly epic (ahem) proprietary Unreal Engine suite of development tools.
Publishers like Sony must negotiate with one of the powers that be for the privilege. Currently, this means Apple's iOS or Google's Android, which take a standard 30% commission on every sale. But what if Epic was able to provide a third option, regardless of how much money it might cost?
Starting today, the Epic Games Store looks set to burn through billions more with an 88/12 revenue-sharing scheme for processed payments on third-party mobile games. One of the few firms that can afford to do so, Sweeney (thanks, IGN), says he's glad to do it: "We choose to reinvest in growth... We're seeing this as an investment in Epic's future, both our future directly as a game developer ourselves; we see a much greater opportunity for Fortnite as a business if the market is open and competition is allowed".
Continuing, in words that sound like they may be pretty significant in retrospect, Sweeney lays out the master plan: "We also see opportunity for all developers. Because we have businesses serving all developers, the Unreal Engine and the Epic Games Store, and our online services, we see an opening up of the market as offering a real breakout opportunity for Epic as a game company and an ecosystem company."