TheGamingEconomy’s Daily Digest brings you the trending stories in gaming. In today’s news: CEO Tim Sweeney defends Epic Game Store; InnoGames’ Forge of Empires reaches lifetime revenue of €500m (£447.3m); and Gumi Cryptos acquires JP¥179,536,500 (£1.31m) worth of shares in blockchain gaming outfit Double Jump.Tokyo.

CEO Tim Sweeney defends Epic Game Store

Epic CEO Tim Sweeney has defended the company’s practice of aggressively stocking the Epic Games Store with exclusive titles, denying gamers who prefer alternative game stores or buying direct from the publisher.

The argument revolves around whether an improved publisher/store revenue split of 88/12 in favour of the publisher (70/30 on other major stores) is worth the perceived compromise in user choice, particularly given that PC gaming has remained relatively clear of exclusivity, unlike console titles.

“This question gets to the core of Epic’s strategy for competing with dominant storefronts.” Sweeney stated on Twitter: “We believe exclusives are the only strategy that will change the 70/30 status quo at a large enough scale to permanently affect the whole game industry.”

InnoGames’ Forge of Empires reaches lifetime revenue of €500m (£447.3m)

Forge of Empires, the mobile and browser-based strategy title from German developer InnoGames, has earned €500m (£447.3m) since its launch in 2012. More than half of this revenue has been generated within the last two years, following the title’s release on mobile stores. The title has also been praised for allowing cross-compatibility between browser, iOS and Android devices.

“We are all proud of this success, particularly regarding the game’s longevity,” said Armin Busen, chief product officer at InnoGames, “the team works hard to provide bi-weekly content updates to improve the game even more, so that it can be enjoyed by millions of loyal players around the globe.”

Gumi Cryptos acquires JP¥179,536,500 (£1.31m) worth of shares in blockchain gaming outfit Double Jump.Tokyo

Gumi Cryptos, a cryptocurrency-focused capital injection arm, has acquired shares worth JP¥179,536,500 (£1.31m) in Double Jump.Tokyo, the development studio behind dungeon-raiding title My Crypto Heroes. This equates to 67.28% of Double Jump.Tokyo shares, along with 22.61% of its parent company DLE. Gumi has previously expressed interest in Double Jump.Tokyo, having taken two DLE board members in exchange for equity shares.

In the announcement, a Gumi spokesperson stated that the acquisition “reflects its efforts to further strengthen the partnership between gumi Cryptos and double jump.tokyo and expand its blockchain game business.”