I think that just might be the way moving forward. What it will do to certain developers who find their commission rate adjusted will be interesting. Epic may end up back on the App Store but at a significant increase in commission rate. How did they win?
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Apple Says 'We Won't Make an Exception' for Epic Games in App Store Dispute
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Yes, I have dealt with family and friends that have had this addiction of in app purchases. I wish it would just all die out. They spend hundreds of dollars a week on cards or skins, yet unable to pay for fixing their roof.
$2 here, $2 there. Its like that death from a thousand cuts scenario. That $2 here and $2 there can add up to hundreds of dollars quickly.
I have been toying with the idea this is tencent’s doing
And that hopefully China can be stopped
This is the legal ground for preventing Apple from enforcing the agreement. Some commenters are wondering whether contractual law allows that. And I'm saying it does, if Epic can prove that some elements of the contract are illegal. I have argued elsewhere for the illegality of the contract.
Let me repeat my argument:
1. A platform for developers sell products to users is a service.
2. An operating system on which users can run apps is a
3. These two are distinct. They can be offered by different entities. And even if they are provided by the same entity, they are functionally separable.
4. "An unlawful monopoly exists when one firm controls the market for a product or service, and it has obtained that market power, not because its product or service is superior to others, but by suppressing competition with anticompetitive conduct." (https://www.justice.gov/atr/antitrust-laws-and-you)
5. Therefore, Apple's App Store has an unlawful monopoly over the first service.
Plot twist: There's only two or three chains of bars that sell drinks in the whole country.
7% on average, in the US.*
Seems fair enough.
* I googled it up couple of days ago
You purposely broke Apple’s terms of service, released pre-prepared slander campaigns against them, and tried to rally gamers INSIDE YOUR GAME against them, and are now crying victim because they retaliated and you’re being financially threatened. Go to hell lol. Apple brought in millions of players for Epic to financially take advantage of, and now they purposely got their app removed, effing over the players that actually support them, and are telling them it’s Apple’s fault. No. You’re scamming your players’ emotions for YOUR financial gain. Epic Games is cancer bro.
EXACTLY what I have been saying. There is a right way to do this and a wrong way. Epic did the horribly wrong way. If Epic did what you said, while I would not agree with their stance, I would at least applaud them for doing it the right way. Maybe more developers would sign that petition and it might be a bigger deal than we think. Why is Epic the only one very vocal about this? Are 99% of the other developers fine with the 30% then? Why doesn't Affinity take Photo and Designer away?
Rosa Parks purposely broke the law to protest racial segregation. Purposely breaking an agreement isn't wrong if the agreement is illegal.
While it indeed has been prepared...
Please explain how it's "slander", i.e. what the malicious and false statements are (merely criticizing isn't).
If fact, Google Play's dominance as Android devices' distribution store is also achieved through illegal anti-competitive conduct, not due to its superior service. So Epic can also argue that Google violated antitrust laws.
Epic is probably big enough and financially in a position strong enough (and, at the same time, not as dependent on them) to actually challenge Apple bigly.
Do they take 30% of just the hair salon's revenue while letting the clothing stores off completely rent free? That's what you have here. I'm all for fair and transparent, but Apple is mandating companies like Epic only use and publicize Apple's payment system that charges 30% off the top while other companies like Uber are free to distribute their apps at no cost and use whatever payment system they want. A little consistency would go a long way to showing Apple isn't harming consumers by arbitrarily creating "rules" that only apply to a very specific set of businesses but not to others.
In the case of Apple what is the mall? iOS? iPhone? When you download an app to your phone and launch it are you still in Apple’s mall?
People like to create definitions of products and services on the fly to fit their narrative. Does Apple have a monopoly of apps? No, Android exists. However, people like to turn this around and say Apple has a monopoly on iOS apps. That is a ridiculous argument. Microsoft owns the monopoly on Xbox games (even if you sell physically, Microsoft still gets a cut).
So how narrow are our definitions on this stuff going to be? Microsoft has a monopoly on Direct X. Apple has a monopoly on iTunes content. Why can't I release a video on my website linked to iTunes without going through Apple?
There is a point where it becomes so ridiculous to change what something is classified in the products category.
There's such a thing as a duopoly where two firms have dominant or exclusive control over a market, I would say that describes Google and Apple.
Given that both Apple and Google have effectively removed Fortnite from the majority of the mobile/tablet market I would say there's a case.
You can't compare video game consoles to a general purpose mobile computing device like a smartphone or tablet.
That’s nothing more than your opinion.
Of course it’s not unambiguous that Apple has “suppressed competition with anticompetitive conduct.” Just because aesthetically Apple fighting for its legal rights *feels* like this, there are many instances where similar conduct has remained legal.
So you can't distinguish App Store from iOS?
Xbox is an App Store for Games on Windows. Windows is an OS. Windows does not ban other App Store for Games on Windows. Plain and simple.
I think what the real issue Epic is trying to show is, if an app were to cost $0.99 to purchase, Apple gets $0.31 and the dev gets the rest.
Ok that's cool and all, but forcing purchases for extra items from within a game hurts the dev since they have to go through Apple payments. Apple takes 30% of those transactions and the dev gets what's left.
Ok, you host the app in your store, you can have 30% of the sale of the app and that is what the host should get, they shouldn't have to hand over 30% of in game transactions to any host as they hosted the purchase of the initial product, anything else inside the app should be directly to the dev.
It's double dipping. "Because we allowed the game on our stores but the servers for play are elsewhere, and development happens outside of Apple, we should get 30% of EVERY transaction cause we only allow payments through our payment method, yours is not allowed as we wouldn't be able to get that additional residual income on all future in game purchases.
Now you see why Apple is a trillion dollar company, they know how to con people very well, and now someone is calling them out on their practices which makes them the bad guy....
I'm not an Epic fan, wouldn't matter who was fighting Apple, I see what they mean and I get why they're fighting for a change.
Ok that's cool and all, but forcing purchases for extra items from within a game hurts the dev since they have to go through Apple payments. Apple takes 30% of those transactions and the dev gets what's left.
Ok, you host the app in your store, you can have 30% of the sale of the app and that is what the host should get, they shouldn't have to hand over 30% of in game transactions to any host as they hosted the purchase of the initial product, anything else inside the app should be directly to the dev.
It's double dipping. "Because we allowed the game on our stores but the servers for play are elsewhere, and development happens outside of Apple, we should get 30% of EVERY transaction cause we only allow payments through our payment method, yours is not allowed as we wouldn't be able to get that additional residual income on all future in game purchases.
Now you see why Apple is a trillion dollar company, they know how to con people very well, and now someone is calling them out on their practices which makes them the bad guy....
I'm not an Epic fan, wouldn't matter who was fighting Apple, I see what they mean and I get why they're fighting for a change.
Lets have a discussion if you are fine with forcing Microsoft and Playstation to allow multiple stores too.
Again, Apple is not the one and only place for Apps. Android exists. People like to make product classifications more narrow than it needs to be saying iOS apps. But what about Xbox games? Why can't Epic release their own store on Xbox?
Amazon, Blackberry, & Microsoft: “Hey Developers— please develop apps for our stores! We’ll even give you sweetheart deals!
Developers: “PASS— All the money is on iOS and Android!
(competition dies)
Developers: This Monopoly (Duopoly) is awful! Apple controls everything and won’t make any deals!!
Developers: “PASS— All the money is on iOS and Android!
(competition dies)
Developers: This Monopoly (Duopoly) is awful! Apple controls everything and won’t make any deals!!
Tell me how literally bundling App Store into your OS and preventing users from using anything else is not anticompetitive conduct.
Nowhere did epic say they wanted a free ride on the App Store, I'm sure they'd happily accept being able to distribute outside of the App Store as well and foot the costs themselves.