From the Epic v. Apple judgment: "Further, the evidence demonstrates that most App Store revenue is generated by mobile gaming apps, not all apps. Thus, defin

From the Epic v. Apple judgment: "Further, the evidence demonstrates that most App Store revenue is generated by mobile gaming apps, not all apps. Thus, defining the market to focus on gaming apps is appropriate. Generally speaking, on a revenue basis, gaming apps account for approximately 70% of all App Store revenues. This 70% of revenue is generated by less than 10% of all App Store consumers. These gaming-app consumers are primarily making in-app purchases which is the focus of Epic Games’ claims. By contrast, over 80% of all consumer accounts generate virtually no revenue, as 80% of all apps on the App Store are free." (pg 1) "With cross-platform games like Fortnite available on multiple devices, these platforms are truly competing against one another for these in-app transactions. For instance, an internal Epic Games email from September 2018 notes that “purchase behavior may have changed with the addition of mobile, especially Apple and more recently Android, where users are just logging onto their mobile app to purchase.” In other words, “most players are still playing on PC/Epic platform[s] as they did before, but purchasing on other platforms like mobile because it may be easier and more convenient [i.e.] when the store updates.”422 This is despite the fact that iOS Fortnite players consisted of only approximately 10% of daily active users, and Fortnite players generally prefer playing on alternative platforms." (pg 84) From these paragraphs, a clear picture arises: * Most App Store revenue comes from a small number of high-spending whales purchasing in-game items. * The reason Apple gets to claim its cut for games like Fortnite is not because people play these games on Apple devices, but because phones are the most convenient way to buy in-game items. * These high-spending whales disproportionately own Apple devices over competitors like Android, to no one's surprise. Given these facts, it is no surprise that Apple makes more money than those other companies. Sony, Microsoft and Nintendo tend to make more money from full-priced games rather than free-to-play games with IAPs. Personally, having tried games from both models, I find one to be clearly more ethical than the other, and it is definitely not the one that forms the backbone of Apple's app store revenue. (I have issues with how locked down game consoles are, but Apple's total control over its personal computing devices is a million times more serious.)