The ongoing legal conflict between developers Epic Games and Apple has been a source of news since last year. The case began when Epic challenged the revenue cut Apple took in exchange for listing popular battle royale title Fortnite on the App Store, and subsequently made changes designed to bypass the App Store's regulations regarding in-app purchases for Fortnite. The trial lasted from May 3rd to May 21st, 2021, including multiple disruptions by Fortnite fans utilizing dial-in lines, but a verdict has not yet been delivered.
As the world awaits a verdict, prominent figures such as Elon Musk have weighed in on the trial and what it could mean for both Apple and Epic's futures. Now, news source The Verge has published a series of highlights from several formerly confidential documents released as evidence during the Apple vs. Epic trial. Among these is a 222-page document detailing deals and arrangements between Epic and other publishers, including a previously unannounced attempt by Epic to strike an exclusivity deal with Sony.
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According to the document, sometime in 2020, Epic offered Sony $200 million for between four and six PC titles. It is not confirmed, but is theorized, that the deal would have involved PC versions of these titles being exclusive to Epic's personal storefront, the Epic Games Store. It is speculated that this deal did not go through, as major Sony titles including Days Gone and Horizon: Zero Dawn are available on both the Epic Games Store and Valve's competing Steam platform.
However, discussions between Epic and Sony may have had some result, as the latter developer is now working to publish several previously PlayStation console-exclusive titles on personal computers. In addition to the zombie action title Days Gone and the open world adventure Horizon, Sony has recently announced plans to bring Uncharted 4: A Thief's End to PC. Other titles are forthcoming, according to a Sony spokesperson, but what they are has not yet been revealed – nor whether they will be exclusive to the Epic Games Store or appear on other platforms such as Steam. It is also possible that Sony's own PlayStation Plus service may adapt to be more like Steam, the Epic Games Store, or other PC platforms.
The document discussing Epic's plans also revealed that Epic had discussed possible Epic Games Store-exclusive PC ports with other major developers including Microsoft and Nintendo. However, Epic is seemingly not as optimistic about these efforts. The document describes discussions with Nintendo in particular as a "moonshot" and a "non-starter." Their efforts to work out a deal with Microsoft were also presumably stymied by the publisher's own in-house Xbox Game Pass for PC, which regularly makes several previous console titles available to play on PC.
As of now, Sony has not issued an official response to this new information regarding a potential deal with Epic. However, Sony's recent acquisition of Nixxes Software, known for its previous work with PC ports including Marvel's Avengers and the Tomb Raider franchise, indicates that Sony is actively interested in making PC ports a part of the company's future.
Whether the reveal of Epic's attempted deals with Sony and other publishers will play a role in the Apple vs. Epic verdict is not yet known.
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