The Fee War (2)
The news that Enple and Guble had sent a warning shot to Legend Games and Block Games spread in an instant—not just through the game industry, but through the entire tech world.
Enple and Guble were the two platform giants that split the mobile market between them.
As smartphones replaced feature phones and app markets exploded, fees had become a major point of contention. For years, developers had argued that the commissions were too high, and that forcing them on everyone was wrong.
But Enple and Guble didn't even blink. Any company that refused to follow their fee policy had its app deleted without hesitation.
Online, of course, people were all over the map.
I scanned through the articles as they came in.
It looked as if Enple and Guble had greased the media well; most of the coverage framed their move as justified.
While I was still reading, Trish called.
"I heard Enple sent a warning saying Penny payments had to be shut down for Nightlight and Block Valley?"
“Yes. They said if we don’t remove the external payment option, they’ll delete the games from the app markets.”
"That’s serious, isn’t it?"
“It is.”
"Hmm. But you sound awfully calm. Don’t tell me you saw this coming?"
“I knew it was coming.”
I had expected it ever since we introduced Penny payments.
That was why I hadn’t left. That was why I had stayed.
"So what are you planning to do?"
“What do other people think?”
"Most people think Legend Games and Block Games will just get rid of Penny payments and accept in-app purchases. Both companies depend heavily on mobile, so if they’re taken down from the app markets, it’ll be a fatal blow."
The app market share of Enstore and Play Market was well over 90 percent.
Being kicked out of there was effectively the same as giving up on mobile altogether.
“There’s also the option of suing them.”
"Against Enple and Guble?"
Right now, in the U.S. market-cap rankings, Enple was number one, N.S. number two, and Guble number three.
Waging a legal war against two of America’s Big Three was no small burden, even for Continue Capital.
"And even if you won, it would take forever before there was a result, wouldn’t it?"
“True.”
I thought back to the first timeline.
Originally, this case had been a fight between Legend Games and Enple. When Legend Games introduced an external payment link to Nightlight, Enple and Guble removed the game from the app markets.
Legend Games sued Enple in response.
Even back then, the lawsuit had been a major focus for both the game industry and the tech world. Countless corporate executives took the stand, and the hearings turned into a series of fierce clashes.
It took more than a year just to reach the first ruling, and of course both sides appealed.
But this time, the situation was far more complicated.
Not only was Legend Games involved, but Block Games was, too, and the two companies were partnered with Snow Crash.
And behind them stood Continue Capital.
If they really went head-to-head, wouldn’t it become a lawsuit for the ages?
"So what’s the plan?"
“Do you really think I don’t have one?”
Trish answered as if it were the most obvious thing in the world.
"Of course you do. You always have a plan, Miru."
I gave a dry laugh.
“I’ll tell you before we move on it.”
Tom Scott flew to Santa Monica at once.
“Welcome.”
“It’s been a while. I hope everyone’s been well.”
They exchanged warm greetings all around.
After Block Valley chose Legend Games as its publisher, Tom Scott had come by the company to meet the developers in person.
He had also held several calls and video conferences with us right up until launch, so we were already on familiar terms.
After the greetings were over, we sat down.
Part of me wanted to pour a drink and catch up properly, but this wasn’t the time for that.
“I think everyone here already knows why we’re gathered.”
Everyone nodded with serious expressions.
Seeing the CEO of Legend Games and the founders of Block Games all in one room felt a little surreal.
Even without me, a lawsuit between Legend Games and Enple would have happened eventually. Block Games, on the other hand, had originally followed Enple and Guble’s policies to the letter.
But now, because of me, the two of them had been dragged into the same category of “rebels.”
Tom Scott did not bother hiding his anger.
“To say that anyone who won’t follow your fee policy will be expelled? That’s nothing less than a threat!”
“Well, Legend Games has been pushing Enple and Guble’s buttons for quite a while.”
He replied as if it were perfectly natural.
“We’re not the only ones who have a problem with these fees. Other game companies feel the same way.”
When Continue Capital first launched Penny, it had been to park it as collateral for DeFi.
After the DeFi liquidation, we worked to build an ecosystem around Penny.
It could be used not only inside Snow Crash’s cloud services, but also for hotel and short-term rental bookings through Blackwood International, and we had partnered with numerous other companies as well.
Once you linked an electronic wallet, you could pay easily anywhere in the world, and the transaction fee was only about a tenth of what card fees cost.
From a company’s perspective, there was no reason to refuse it when they could exchange it into dollars immediately on settlement day.
The company that adopted it most aggressively was Legend Games.
First, they made it available for buying games, donations, and gifts in the Legend Games Store.
Then they went further and brought in the mobile games made with Surreal Engine.
“Mobile game” literally meant a game designed to be played on mobile devices—smartphones.
But playing a game for hours on a tiny screen was no easy thing. There were battery issues, overheating issues, all of it.
So Tom Scott actively supported efforts to let those games run on PC through the Legend Games Store.
If a game was serviced through the Legend Games Store, the company could use not only optimization, but also the store’s voice chat, streaming, donations, and all the other built-in features.
Most importantly, players could make in-game purchases not only by card, but also with Penny.
Since the fee dropped to less than half of what in-app purchases charged, game companies handed out discounts of ten to twenty percent, and players running the games on PC paid through Legend Games instead of their smartphones.
It was good for the game companies, and good for consumers too.
But it was a loss for Enple and Guble. PC-based bypass payments were the main thing eating away at app market commissions.
Enple and Guble retaliated by excluding those games from ads and various promotional events. Even so, the number of game companies partnering with the Legend Games Store kept growing.
That meant everyone was feeling the burden of in-app purchase fees. They just couldn’t say it openly for fear of Enple and Guble’s glare.
Tom Scott, however, was different.
“These fees are the abuse of a monopoly. We absolutely cannot back down from this.”
The reason he could take such a hard line was that Legend Games was not only a game developer, but also an engine developer and an ESD operator.
Even if Nightlight were kicked out of the app markets and sales took a hit, the company would not be shaken to its core.
That was why he had gone to court in the first timeline as well.
Block Games, however, was in a different position.
It only had one released game: Block Valley.
It had only just started to catch on, and because its user base skewed heavily toward teenagers, mobile access accounted for 80 percent of its traffic.
Everyone has a smartphone, and you can connect from anywhere.
Inside Block Valley, countless creators gathered to build, and they earned money by collecting and cashing out a currency called Rox.
“If we have to pay Enple and Guble a 30 percent commission, then we’ll have to make consumers pay more, or cut the creators’ share.”
Or maybe split it fifty-fifty.
Either way, someone had to absorb that cost.
Charles said with a worried look, “If we’re kicked out of the app markets now, it’ll be catastrophic.”
In truth, the solution was simple.
We could withdraw Penny payments and just raise the sale price by the amount of the fee.
Common sense said there was no reason to sacrifice revenue and market share just to fight Enple and Guble.
But…
I looked slowly around the faces gathered in the conference room, then said, “We’re not backing down on the fee issue. If they try to kick us out, we’ll respond with a lawsuit.”
At my words, Tom Scott’s expression brightened.
“You’re serious?”
I nodded.
“Of course. We promised we’d fight together.”
Unlike the first timeline, this wasn’t just a matter of fees anymore.
The Penny ecosystem was on the line, and so was the future balance of power in the mobile market and the game market. So from the very beginning, I had no intention of yielding.