Specialist
Former senior executive at Epic Games Inc
Agenda
- Overview of Epic Games’s core offerings such as Fortnite and Epic Games Store
- Epic’s Unreal Engine platform positioning against competitors such as Unity (NYSE: U) and Activision (NASDAQ: ATVI) and non-gaming growth opportunities
- Epic’s management strategy – strategic decision-making and data privacy approach
- 1-3-year outlook, highlighting potential recession and pandemic impacts and metaverse opportunities
Questions
1.
Could you highlight 2-3 key trends that are impacting or might soon impact Epic Games?
2.
The headwinds you outlined, such as competition, seem as though they could be significant threats. Are there any notable things that Epic is doing to address these concerns?
3.
How is Epic’s own online marketplace, Epic Games Store, positioned competitively? Is it competing significantly with the other marketplaces you outlined? What stage is it at? Is there an update on that, and when can you see it potentially becoming a bigger competitor?
4.
How much market share do you think Epic Games Store can take from bigger players at full development?
5.
How might Epic and the broader gaming industry be impacted in a recession?
6.
Could you estimate Epic’s percentage ARPU decrease in a recession?
7.
You spoke about companies tightening their belts and reducing some spend. Are there any signs of Epic doing this?
8.
What is Unreal Engine’s value proposition? How does it differentiate itself from other engines such as Unity?
9.
How does Unreal Engine stack up against more proprietary game engines such as an Activision or Electronic Arts, or is that even comparable?
10.
Could you expand on Unreal Engine’s primary customers and discuss the non-gaming customers?
11.
Could you estimate Unreal Engine’s or broader industry penetration in some of the non-gaming verticals?
12.
Which non-gaming vertical might be the fastest-growing opportunity for Unity?
13.
How do you see Epic and Unreal Engine increasing their positions in the non-gaming verticals? Do you see them growing their capabilities organically or will it be through a more acquisitive strategy?
14.
Do you know of any specific companies that might be most suitable for Epic to acquire to push into these more non-gaming verticals?
15.
Where do you think Unreal Engine might be lacking, given you’ve touched on where it has an advantage?
16.
Do you see Epic developing the Unreal Engine offering to be more suitable for the non-specialist user? If so, when might that be?
17.
Could you outline a timeline for when you expect Epic to break into the mobile games market with Unreal Engine?
18.
How could Epic increase its presence in mobile? Is this a question of engineering capacity and increasing hiring? Might acquisitions be the best strategy to address the lack of a presence?
19.
What are your thoughts on Epic’s development team’s ability to innovate, and is there anything notable in Unreal Engine’s product pipeline?
20.
How do you think users react to Epic’s product innovations? Have any innovations moved the needle significantly on ROI, or are there any areas where you could see a product or a feature update potentially impacting this even further?
21.
How could Unreal Engine increase market share?
22.
Could you comment on the presence of VR and what the opportunity there might be for Epic?
23.
What are your thoughts on Apple’s VR headsets or Meta’s VR focus, given VR seems to be a significant opportunity? Do you view these developments as opportunities or maybe even threats to Epic?
24.
What’s your take on the metaverse and how Epic is positioned to capture that opportunity? How might Epic’s microtransactions capabilities impact this metaverse opportunity?
25.
What are your thoughts on the idea of Epic going public, and could you estimate a timeline of when this might happen, if ever?
26.
How would you describe Epic’s CEO Tim Sweeney’s management approach and strategy?
27.
Who’s behind the decision-making processes at Epic? Is Tim Sweeney making all the strategic decisions for the company’s different verticals – such as Fortnite, Unreal Engine and the Epic Games Store – or might there be more senior management involvement coordinating the activities?
28.
What is Epic and management doing for data privacy, specifically for minors playing their games?
29.
What is your 1-3-year outlook for Epic, touching on the biggest opportunity and risk that you see?
30.
Do you have any other concluding thoughts around Epic?