Epic Games, the maker of the popular Fortnite video game, paid $23 million, or 3.5 billion yen, in back taxes in Japan after failing to properly declare its tax obligations on revenue from sales of in-game Fortnite items.
Epic confirmed Wednesday that it had “inadvertently omitted” the payments due between 2018 and 2020. “Upon realizing the omission we paid the outstanding” Japanese consumption tax, Epic spokesperson Natalie Munoz said.
Epic registered sales of more than $9 billion from Fortnite in the first two years following its 2017 launch, according to court documents from the company’s suit against Apple. The closely held gaming company, which is based in Cary, North Carolina, also operates the Unreal game engine and the Epic Games Store, a digital marketplace.
In September, Epic laid off 870 employees, or 16% of its staff.