Batman: Arkham Knight was an early bar-raiser
As the “Epic vs. Apple” kaiju-esque courtroom battle gets underway, more and more tidbits are being uncovered regarding what goes on Behind the Curtain at the industry giants. Presented for your consideration: a document that reveals has much money Epic doled out in order to secure titles for Epic Games Store’s free game giveaways.
The document, released to Twitter by Game’sDiscoverCo.’s Simon Carless, paints an interesting picture of the dollar amounts certain titles cost over others. For example, old-school indie adventure Torchlight cost Epic $150,000 USD to procure for giveaway status, while Unknown World’s Subnautica cost a princely $1.4 million. Ubisoft’s multiplayer battler For Honor was a bargain at $63,000, while the most expensive title on the list is Rocksteady’s epic Batman: Arkham Knight, which sold for $1.5 million.
As the list specifically concerns 2019’s giveaways, Rockstar’s Grand Theft Auto V — a game so in-demand it crashed the Epic Games Store’s servers back in the summer of 2020 — is not noted.
Overall, Epic spent just shy of $12 million in the first nine months of its free games scheme. A fortune to the majority of us, but loose change for the Fortnite studio. Epic Games Store continues to operate at a loss, and is unlikely to turn a profit for several years more. But Epic boss Tim Sweeney is fully aware of the costs, and sees the tossed fortunes as a mere “investment” in the company’s long-term future.
The Epic vs. Apple antitrust trial continues… I’m reminded of the Alien vs. Predator tag-line.
Want to know how much $ the devs of those ‘free’ Epic Games Store games got, & how many copies were grabbed? Here’s the first 9 months to September 2019. 👀 pic.twitter.com/5hkLb1VEjj
— Simon Carless (@simoncarless) May 3, 2021