Apple makes more money on video games than Sony, Microsoft and Nintendo combined

Apple earned $ 8.5 billion in 2019 from selling video games on the App Store. This colossal sum is more important than the revenues of Sony, Microsoft, Nintendo and Blizzard combined, thus making the Cupertino company a major player in the sector without even having to develop its own titles.

The lawsuit between Apple and Epic Games has been instructive. In addition to learning more about the marketing techniques of the Cupertino company, a lot of financial data has been revealed. Among the latter, some are intriguing, in particular the one which affirms that the company is the biggest seller of video games in the world.

No need for Apple to develop its own titles. The App Store is doing very well to impose it as a master in this market. Thus, according to figures analyzed by the Wall Street Journal, the Cupertino company has touched $ 8.5 billion in 2019 through these apps. A colossal sum, which is even more so when compared to others in the sector. Indeed, it’s more than Sony, Microsoft, Nintendo and Blizzard put together.

On the same topic: Fortnite vs Apple – Epic Games victory, the App Store must relax the rules for video games

Apple is the world’s biggest seller of video games

If this is only a “small” share of the overall revenue of the App Store, which in 2021 amounted to 65 billion dollars, this figure imposes Apple as a major player in video games. On his own he indeed wins $ 2 billion more than the combined annual turnover of the companies named above in the same market. Note, however, that during his lawsuit against Epic Games, the publisher contested this estimate, deeming it higher than reality.

However, Apple’s domination may not last. Microsoft is carving out an increasingly sustainable place for itself in video games, in particular through its successive studio acquisitions and its Game Pass. Facebook has also entered the race with the many games populating its applications. The industry, for its part, still has a bright future ahead of it. Mobile games will weigh 103 billion dollars in 2024, according to estimates by Activate Inc.

Source: Wall Street Journal