Epic Games claims that a clause in its contract with Sony prevents it from passing savings to PlayStation players.
Tim Sweeney, Epic Games CEO, has reportedly stated that a particular clause in its contract with Sony prevents it from passing savings to PlayStation players. As per him, Epic cannot sell out of PlayStation at a lower price than it sells on PlayStation, referring to a most favored nations (MFN) clause in the contract with Sony.
A similar clause had apparently been spotted earlier in a Sony contract during the Epic v. Apple trial. Google had suggested this was shady, as Sony is now an Epic Games shareholder. However, Sweeney claimed that it is a standard part of PlayStation contracts.
This would mark the first time Tim Sweeney has blamed a console manufacturer for having a monopoly over pricing in its ecosystem. Previously, Sweeney has spoken against Valve’s PC digital storefront, Steam, as well as Apple’s iOS platform.
Epic Games runs and manages its own PC storefront called Epic Games Store. It was introduced in December 2018 as a client for Microsoft Windows and macOS, providing online storefront services along with features like friends list management and game matchmaking.
Epic Games entered the digital distribution scene for game publishers following the success of Fortnite in 2017. The game was distributed using Epic’s own software channels to players on Windows and macOS systems. In August 2017, Tim Sweeney, the founder and CEO of Epic Games, criticized the 30% revenue cut on Steam, Valve’s dominant game storefront, deeming it unreasonably high. Sweeney suggested that Epic Games could run a profitable store with as little as an 8% cut. Ultimately, by the time of its launch, the Epic Games Store settled on a 12% revenue cut for titles published through the store and eliminated licensing fees for games built on their Unreal Engine, which typically accounted for 5% of the revenue.
