Adam Kos Apple's gaming profits in fiscal 2019 exceeded those of major gaming companies. As a distributor, it earned more from the games present in the App Store than Nintendo, Microsoft, Activision Blizzard and Sony combined. This was revealed by the case he is still fighting with Epic Games (which appealed after the verdict). It simply follows that Apple is the king of digital gaming.
Analysis Wall Street Journal put Apple's gaming-derived operating profits in 2019 at $8,5 billion. He mentions that even though Apple doesn't develop games, it is a superpower in the industry. However, during the court hearings, Apple stated that this stated operating margin was not correct and was in fact greatly inflated. The said analysis also mentions that the amount collected by Apple from distribution fees and In-App purchases is $2 billion more than the operating profit generated by Nintendo, Microsoft, Activision Blizzard and Sony combined (the game companies' data came from its corporate records, Microsoft's earnings figure was based on analysts' estimates).
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Nintendo is a leading game developer behind such hits as Super Mario, The Legend of Zelda or Fire Emblem Heroes. At the same time, it is a manufacturer of consoles. The same goes for Microsoft's Xbox or Sony's Playstation. So it is not the small players, but rather the biggest ones. Even so, however, Apple playfully pocketed them. That is, even if the WSJ's analysis was cut by some billion dollars, because Apple states that it does not count on the costs associated with the App Store. In the final, it doesn't matter if he beat them, earned the same, or slightly less. The important thing is that Apple is the biggest player in the gaming field.
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An austere game history
The funny thing is that Apple has never been very involved in this category. In the App Store, he released only mobile poker Texas Hold'em and an arcade game as a tribute to the company's biggest investor, Warren Buffet, which will no longer be found in his app store. If you don't have to develop games for it, or you simply don't want to do so for some reason, but you see considerable potential in it, you approach it differently. The App Store wouldn't be where it is without the success of the iPhone. So it cannot be said that you will create a virtual store and your business will only flourish. Apple simply combined a successful product with a successful service and is now profiting from it. Is there a reason to blame him? Developers are outraged that they are being ripped off, but then again, where would everyone be if Apple didn't help them with distribution?
Because of the App Store, we also have In-App purchases and a model called freemium. The game is free and will provide limited content. Want more? Buy one, two, three chapters. Want more weapons? Buy a submachine gun, rocket launcher, plasma rifle. Do you want decent clothes? Dress up as a robot or a squirrel. Above all, pay us additionally for it. Previously, in the App Store there were full games for a certain amount of money without microtransactions and their alternative with the nickname Lite. You touched her in it, and when she approached you, you bought her full version. You will no longer find this in the App Store, it is also disappearing from Google Play in a big way. It is simpler to provide the full version of the title and gradually push the user into individual purchases. And from each such purchase, of course, additional crowns are poured into Apple.
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Apple Arcade as a possible savior
When the company realized that it was running low on margins and might have to back down, it introduced Apple Arcade. Its own platform that other developers add titles to and we pay Apple a subscription for it. The benefit is present for all involved. It's not the best AAA hits here, because there are also quite ordinary and simple games, but it will take you a while to get through the 180 games. Sure, the gallery is still limited, but so is Apple TV+. The advantage of Arcade for Apple is that it has a stable regular income from players who otherwise can only purchase other content in the App Store in bursts.
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So Apple doesn't develop games, and even so they concern him more than anyone else. Its essential contribution is only the store and the platform that distributes the games and the iPhone, i.e. iPad or Mac, on which you can play these games. By the end of 2020, there were already one billion iPhones in the world. And that's a wide base of potential players who not only carry a phone in their pockets, but also a game console. When Sony or Microsoft sell the same number of consoles, they will surely come close to Apple's profits. Until then, the earnings of the big companies in the gaming industry will just have to be added up.
