Tim Sweeney: “Revenue is shifting away from useless gatekeepers and middlemen”

Stay Informed

Get Industry News In Your Inbox…

Sign Up Today

“The world is changing ridiculously fast. The good news is the industry is changing fast too and, in particular, it’s opening up,” says Epic Games CEO Tim Sweeney.

He appeared on stage today during the State of Unreal presentation at Unreal Fest 2025, highlighting legislative changes around the world which are impacting mobile especially.

Sweeney noted that he’s “optimistic” about the way the industry is developing.

“Last year the European Commission opened up iOS to competing app stores. We launched the Epic Games Store on Android and on iOS in the European Union. Very recently, the United States court opened up iOS to competing payment services. This enabled Fortnite to return to iPhone here in the United States.

“It means that now revenue is shifting away from useless gatekeepers and middlemen to developers who actually build this stuff, like us. This trend towards open platforms is spreading around the world.

“We’ll keep fighting for Fortnite and for developers’ freedom until all apps are free worldwide.”

Epic’s battle against Apple cost over $100 million in legal fees but ultimately led to Fortnite’s chart-topping return to iOS in the United States this May. The battle royale is expected to return to iOS in Brazil, the UK and Japan later this year.

“Maximise your success”

During the State of Unreal, Epic brought attention to its strategies to compete with the major stores, including a new initiative where developers can keep 100% of their first $1m in annual net revenue per title – available to all new games.

This is also available to developers’ back catalogues as of them being added to the store. A new back catalogue programme also means developers can keep 100% of net revenue for older titles during their first six months on the Epic Games Store through to the end of 2025.

Furthermore, developers can keep 100% of in-app purchase revenue from any game when using their own payment systems.

“We want to do everything we can to help during this critical time, to maximise your success,” said Epic Games Store general manager Steve Allison, who also took to the stage at today’s State of Unreal.

“So we’ve added another tool to the Epic Games Store toolkit. Starting June 1st, we’ve changed our initial revenue share to 0% so that you receive 100% of the first $1m in net revenue, and then 12% goes to Epic after passing that threshold. This change is per title and per year.”