Photo illustration by Cath Virginia / The Verge | Photos by Philip Pacheco, Bloomberg, Getty Images
Google has confirmed in court that Epic was offered a $147 million deal to launch its hit game Fortnite on Android’s Google Play store. The deal, which Google’s VP of Play partnerships Purnima Kochikar says was approved and presented to Epic but not accepted, would have seen the money dispensed over a three-year period of “incremental funding” (ending in 2021) to the games publisher. It was meant to stem a potential “contagion” of popular apps bypassing Android’s official store, and with it, Google’s lucrative in-app purchase fees.
Epic launched Fortnite on Android in 2018 directly through its website, avoiding the Play store. That allowed it to sell Fortnite’s in-game currency V-Bucks without paying the commission required of Play Store…