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Epic explains why it hasn't sued Nintendo, Sony and Microsoft over 30% fee
(www.gamesindustry.biz)
this post was submitted on 04 Dec 2023
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Nintendo does not sell hardware at a loss and, IIRC, has done so since the Wii. It was a huge deal back when they said they were going to make a profit off the hardware. Given how abysmally the Wii U did, I’m struggling to find coverage of that from 15yr ago that I only vaguely remember. However, that’s been a major point from Nintendo since the Wii, so it’s ridiculous that Epic wouldn’t know that and is clearly just an attack on Google (please don’t read that as me supporting Google or Epic).
PlayStations are not sold at a loss either.
They usually start out selling for a loss, but Sony reduces costs and scales production so they're usually profitable (or at least even) after a couple of years. As far as I can tell the PS3 took the longest, releasing in 2006 and not breaking even until 2010, still 3 years before the PS4 launched.
It seems Xbox has always sold at a loss though.
On top of all this, Apple also sell their own hardware alongside their own App Store, just like Sony and Nintendo do.
The Apple model is extremely similar to the way the console manufacturers operate albeit with a few more freedoms on Mac.
I think everyone is aware that Apple sells hardware, that's not relevant to the discussion. What's relevant is whether they sell it at a loss or not.
Personally, I don't think that selling hardware at a loss is a good excuse to be anticompetitive with the software. I don't understand how it (and any other kind of loss leading sales tactics) doesn't trigger anti-trust laws.