Instructions

1. The case to be analyzed is “Epic Games: Nineteen Eighty-Fortnite” (HBS 721395)

2. The assignment is to be attempted as a group assignment.
3. Solutions borrowed from internet are unacceptable. Such solutions will not be graded.
4. The word limit for the assignment is 300 words. Exceeding word limit will be penalized.
5. Deadline is sacrosanct. Failure to meet it will be penalized.

Question

As Tim Sweeney at Epic Games, would you pursue the lawsuit against Apple (and Google)?

No. of words of the answer: 269

The analysis for the case is as follows:

Pros:
 Installed base of 350 million Fortnite users which can lead in maximize indirect Network
Effect
 Coalition with Spotify, Match group and 10 other companies
 Support from Facebook
 Paved a way for complementor to fight against monopolistic giants to dilute the anti-
competitive spirit created by them.
 Opened new doors for legal policies for small companies to provide them a fair chance in this
market space
 Helps Epic games to maintain a fair brand image
 Antitrust law led to the launch of its own payment gateway and tried to lock in customers by
giving a discount of 20% if they downloaded from their own payment gateway
 Created a space for gaming companies to enter and bring the competitive spirit back
 Apple lost 60% of its active user since Fortnite’s removal

Cons:
 Similar law suits earlier being sent to lower courts for further investigation
 Diluted the revenue generation as major chunk comes from mobile phone games
 Loss of existing customer base of Apple and Google
 Wrong strategy: Marketing campaign to bring down Apple
 Reduced arm twisting bargaining power for supplier of monopolistic giants
 Apple and Google removed Fortnite from their stores
 Epic’s developer account officially terminated from the App store

The lawsuit was although not in favor of Epic games but it started a revolution to break the anti-
competitive and antitrust laws of the big giants in the industry.

This case has highlighted the concept of Coopetition which focusses on cooperating with one
another which includes the buyer, supplier, competitors and complementor (Value net) in
analyzing and maximizing the size of the pie.