iOS Fortnite Returns

Good Afternoon. It is fun to occasionally think about crazy ideas: what if The Pokemon Company just bought Pocket Pair? If you have an opinion on this, be sure to let us know in today’s Hive Mind.

—Tim Rhyne, Derek Neville

MAIN QUEST: Fortnite to hit iOS again in EU

Epic Games will bring Fortnite to iOS via their Epic Games Store! The catch? A few.

This will be only available in European countries that fall under the EU’s Digital Markets Act (DMA). Apple has released its full plans for DMA compliance and one hidden aspect is developers will need to accept either the current terms of service and maintain business as usual or their alternate terms specific to the EU.

These plans have Epic’s Tim Sweeney up in arms calling it “malicious compliance” over multiple aspects of the agreement. One is where developers who pick the current terms are choosing to follow non-compliant terms and two is the new fee structure. This structure includes a “Core Technology Fee” where all apps have to pay 0.50 per first annual install after 1 million and Apple will still charge a commission on IAPs that are not processed by Apple themselves.

These complaints seem valid when Nikita Bier on X used Apple’s tool to show the new fee structure being a potential raw deal. “If you make less than $0.57 per user you will end up negative and you will owe Apple money.” While this can be true at scale, it would require significantly passing the million first annual install count as a free app.

Step Back: The new terms do appear more damaging, but it does open the door for companies like Epic who have no option under the old terms to get popular games like Fortnite in the hands of users. Ultimately, the EU will levy heavy fines against Apple should it be determined they are non-compliant.

HUD

• ☠️ Ubisoft’s delay-plagued Skull and Bones will have an open beta from February 8th to 11th. The open beta’s progress will be capped but will carry over to the main game which releases on February 16th.

• 👎️ 2024 layoffs cross 5900 people as more studios add to the count. Reikon Games and Embracer’s Black Forest Games laid off more than half their workforces, while Little Red Dog Games announced it has officially closed its doors.

• 💰️ True Gamers has closed a $45 million investment to bring more than 150 esports lounges and international tournaments to Saudi Arabia.

Palworld Quick Hits

• 🔍️ The Pokémon Company released a statement about investigating Palworld surrounding possible intellectual property rights infringement. The official statement did not mention the game or PocketPair by name.

• ⛏️ Palworld data miner finds what appears to be a Mewtoo-like Pal hidden in the game’s files.

• 😤 PocketPair acknowledges cheating has already begun and they will not be able to address it immediately.

MAJOR W

• 📽️ Grounded 2: Making The Last of Us Part 2 hits YouTube next Friday as a sequel to the original documentary in 2015. As a word of caution, it will be filled with game spoilers should it be on your backlog still.

• 🌇 Sunkissed City gets a Steam release date of Q4 2024. The developer behind this cozy life simulator game worked with ConcernedApe on Stardew Valley.

F IN THE CHAT

• 📉 Nexon’s Warhaven will shut down on April 5, 2024. The free-to-play big team PvP was in early access for 6 months and has been unable to overcome its mixed reviews on Steam.

• 🪦 Project Odyssey, Blizzard's unannounced survival game, was canceled due to Microsoft layoffs.

CAREER CORNER

• Monetization Specialist — Maximum Entertainment (Remote, Europe)

• Audio Designer — Midnight Society (Remote, US)

• Production Director — Wildlight Entertainment (Remote, US)

HIVE MIND

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