Fortnite

Epic Games earned $3 billion profit in 2018 thanks to cross-platform Fortnite popularity, report says

Chance Miller | Dec 27 2018 - 3:34 pm PT

It’s no secret that Epic Games, the company behind the massively popular Fortnite title, had an incredibly successful 2018. Just how big of a year was it for Epic Games? TechCrunch reports today that Epic grossed a massive $3 billion in profit during 2018…

The report cites “a source with knowledge of the business,” as Epic Games does not publicly disclose its financial data. 2018 got off to an incredible start for Epic Games, when it released Fortnite for iOS. While it’s unclear how much of the $3 billion in profit came from Fortnite for iOS specifically, data from Sensor Tower has suggested that users on iOS were spending over $1 million per day a couple of months back.

TechCrunch further speculates that Fortnite for iOS earned roughly $385 million in revenue from iOS alone between April and November. Google, however, missed out significantly on sharing revenue with Fortnite due to Epic’s decision to use its own launcher:

We can deduce from Sensor Tower’s November estimate that iOS pulled in $385 million over eight months — between April and November — which is around $48 million per month on average. Android is harder to calculate since Epic skipped Google’s Play Store by distributing its own launcher. Some estimates predicted that Google would miss out on around $50 million in lost earnings this year because in-app purchases on Android would not cross its services

Analysts over the summer predicted that Fortnite would gross $2 billion in 2018, but it’s now clear that those estimates were far too conservative:

As a private company, Epic keeps its financials closely guarded. But digging beyond the $3 billion figure — which, to be clear, is annual profit not revenue — there are clues as to just how big a money-spinner Fortnite is. Certainly, there’s room to wonder whether analyst predictions this summer that Fortnite would gross $2 billion this year were too conservative.

Fortnite isn’t the first success story for Epic Games. TechCrunch explains that the company’s title Gear of Wars grossed $100 million with a $12 million developmental budget. Fortnite, however, has taken things to an entirely new level due in large part to its seamless cross-platform play. Fortnite is available on PlayStation, Xbox, Switch, PC, Mac, Android and iOS.