Sony has suffered consequences in the ongoing legal battle between Fortnite developer Epic Games and Google. Epic CEO Tim Sweeney pointed fingers at Sony when questioned about Fortnite’s pricing, claiming that a clause in their contract prevented them from offering lower prices to customers. According to Sweeney, the Most Favored Nations (MFN) clause in their contract with Sony prohibits them from selling the game on other platforms at a lower price than on PlayStation. This clause is intended to prevent players from seeking cheaper alternatives on different platforms. While Google’s lawyers criticized Sony’s MFN clause, Sweeney defended it as a standard practice in PlayStation contracts.
This is not the first time Sony has included such clauses in their contracts. In a previous agreement between Sony Music and Spotify, an MFN clause allowed Sony to revise certain elements of the contract if another company offered a better deal.
Epic Games’ dispute with Google dates back to 2020 when Fortnite was removed from the Play Store in response to Epic Games’ complaints about Google’s 30 percent commission. Sweeney filed a lawsuit, aiming to expose Google’s control over app availability on Android. Around the same time, Epic also sued Apple for similar practices. The trial took place from May 3 to May 24, 2021, and although Epic lost most of the counts, they have appealed the decision earlier this year.
Source: DOTESPORTS
