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Apple makes MORE money in gaming than the Big 3 combine [Visual Capitalist]

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Visualizing Apple’s Rising Gaming Revenue​

In 2020, Apple generated an estimated $13.5 billion dollars in gaming revenue—even though the tech giant doesn’t actually make any games or gaming consoles.

So how does Apple generate all this money from gaming? A key driver of Apple’s gaming revenue is the 30% fee it collects from all app spending, including in-app purchases, subscriptions, and premium app fees.

a majority of Apple’s App Store revenue comes from games. And because of hefty fees, Apple made more profits off of games than some of the most reputable gaming companies who designed them.

For example, in 2019, Apple generated $2 billion more in operating profit than Nintendo, Microsoft, Sony, and Activision Blizzard—combined.

Why Apple’s Dominance is a Problem​

The 30% fee is a financial burden for game developers who sell large volumes of in-app purchases. So, in an attempt to bypass Apple’s in-app payment systems, some developers have tried to redirect users to external payment platforms (a competitive tactic called envelopment).

Epic Games tried a version of this by integrating their own payment system into Fortnite. However, Apple then removed Fornite from the App Store, citing violations to the terms of their agreement. In response, Epic Games countered with a lawsuit, accusing Apple of monopolistic practices and antitrust violations.

While Apple ended up winning a majority of the court case, the tech giant was ordered to update their App Store policies, meaning Apple could no longer prohibit gaming companies from directing customers to alternative means of payment.

Crazy

Man some of you are in for a rude awakening. There's an entire generation growing up on touch screens and Roblox and they will not graduate to Halo Infinite and $70 game remakes.
 
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Spukc

always chasing the next thrill
that's fucked. the only games i enjoy on my iphone are ports of classic games or console games with shittier controls.
i can not think of a single phone exclusive game i enjoyed as much as consoles/pc games
 

amigastar

Member
that's fucked. the only games i enjoy on my iphone are ports of classic games or console games with shittier controls.
i can not think of a single phone exclusive game i enjoyed as much as consoles/pc games
yeah, i remember playing XCom: Ufo Defense on my smartphone (the old one from 1994) but didn't play for too long since it drained my battery.
 

op22

Member
This is why I hate people in the media who write articles attacking ambitious games like Starfield after writing articles praising a simple indie game about jumping on shadows to avoid sunlight. I guess they get paid the same for each review but one requires a lot more time to get an accurate analysis. The problem is the hard work put in to elevate games into a genuine art form is being undone. A lot of new talent will be wasted developing cheap or free shovelware as fast as possible.
 
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.Pennywise

Banned
Yeah mobile's been doing way more money than "hardcore" traditional console and PC games.

Any news we didn't know 10 years ago already?
 
"During an earnings call with investors last night, Apple CEO Tim Cook revealed that Apple now has 1.8 billion active devices. That's up from the 1.65 billion Apple reported a year ago, and the 1.5 billion active devices in January 2020."

Nintendo would need to sell approx. 20 times the number of total Switch sales to equal that number of active hardware units. Granted, not all iOS users use their devices for gaming, but that is still a huge advantage.
 

Chastten

Banned
And this is why no one cares about 'traditional' gamers.

'hardcore gamers' are absolutely impossible to please as they demand photorealistic games running at at least 282fps or something at a ridiculous pricepoint. (yeah, I'll buy this for €20 6 months down the line!11!!).

Meanwhile, 'casual gamers' easily spend a few hundred bucks on their favorite mobile game each month/year without caring about graphics, or resolution or fps or whatever bullshit.

If I were a developer, I'd know which audience I'd target.
 

JimboJones

Member
It would be nice if they would invest some of that back into gaming, some premium first party Apple studios, create some killer games rather than just taking their cut from all the dreck.
 
Apple sells upwards of 200 million iPhones around the world each year. Xbox and PlayStation consoles meanwhile have a good year if they sell over 16 million units in one year. More accessibility to your hardware = more $$$
 

MacReady13

Member
How and why do people spend ANY money on gaming on a fucking phone?!? Every game i've ever purchased on my iphone has been free (minus that Mario game) and even then it was cause it was simple to control. Still, imagine not being happy making billions in profits being ANY of the other console makers...
 

Nezzeroth

Member
Milk those whales.

But seriously, they need to clasify this shit as no different than gambling.
 
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radewagon

Member
And this is why no one cares about 'traditional' gamers.

'hardcore gamers' are absolutely impossible to please as they demand photorealistic games running at at least 282fps or something at a ridiculous pricepoint. (yeah, I'll buy this for €20 6 months down the line!11!!).

Meanwhile, 'casual gamers' easily spend a few hundred bucks on their favorite mobile game each month/year without caring about graphics, or resolution or fps or whatever bullshit.

If I were a developer, I'd know which audience I'd target.
Even if you wanted to make some garbage over-engineered slot machine of a game, your chances of successfully pulling away users from their current drug of choice are not the best. Moreover, they are simply different markets. If you target regular (I won't say hardcore because very few games target hardcore gamers) gamers, you are trying to make a profit off of a whole different group of people. While it might not be the same mad-money, it's still a lot of money and, hey, it's an honest living. In a population with all different types of gamers, it wouldn't make sense for every game company to only go after 1 type of gamer since there's still money to be made elsewhere.

Anyway, this crazy graph, IMO, isn't showing the success of mobile games as much as it is showing the success of owning the platform/store. I wonder how this compares to the kinds of bank Steam makes.
 
Everyone else: Work hard to make games for money
Apple: Take 30% of every purchase in App Store

It's just that easy. Everyone else was in the wrong business from the start.
 
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