But if Apple bans Epic Apple could still revoke Epic’s right to use kits acquired through any means. I’m sure even the free downloads come with T&C of their use.
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Apple Threatens to Terminate Epic Games' Developer Accounts on August 28
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But if Apple bans Epic Apple could still revoke Epic’s right to use kits acquired through any means. I’m sure even the free downloads come with T&C of their use.
How is this targeting small developers? They're literally pointing to the license terms that every developer signed before making an account.
Stupid touchscreen. Epic is run by a company without respect for their superiors.
Got anything to back this up? As in, can you point to the section of T&C that forbids an organization to use the tools if their dev account was suspended? Dev accounts come with a certain set of privileges and services, mainly having to do with app distribution. There is nothing preventing you from developing code without a dev account.
Actually, apparently around 50% is what courts have found might constitute a monopoly:
https://www.ftc.gov/tips-advice/com...ws/single-firm-conduct/monopolization-defined
And in the US market (which is whose laws and where the suit has been filed under), Apple's share is around 46-50%:
US Smartphone Market Share: By Quarter - Counterpoint
- US Smartphone Market Share: By Quarter - Counterpointwww.counterpointresearch.com
There's a big difference in saying "those with less than 50 percent of the sales is typically not found as a monopoly" vs "those with more than 50 percent of marketshare might constitute a monopoly.
And that site says "Obtaining a monopoly by superior products, innovation, or business acumen is legal; "
When Apple spends hundreds of millions of dollars back into the develop program to make it better for developers (which essentially results in better apps for users), that makes business sense.
I don’t think it has anything to do with respect. Unreal engine is good for Apple, it allows high quality games to be shipped with iOS. Epic’s business tactics is a completely different topic.
Ah yes, god forbid they offer a trial that doesn’t automatically bill users when it expires, something many businesses do. It’s a gesture of goodwill to their customers by trusting that they’ll enter their billing information if they think the service is worth it, and it should substantially cut down on refund requests (and worse, chargebacks).
But muh Services revenue.
If that were true more games would use it over Unity. It’s really not that important for Apple but it would have an impact on Epic.
Seriously? They violated a rule. It doesn’t matter if it was done with good intentions or not.
Why do these “rules” have a habit of dictating developers’ business models in such a fashion that it harms consumers while benefiting Apple’s bottom line?
After all, they do still get to report a refunded App Store transaction as Services revenue.
There used to be a rule, in the early days of iPhone OS, that you could not use ANY cross-platform libraries.
Ah, that thing. If I remember correctly, it was less about cross-platform libraries but about frameworks that allowed you to deploy the same app to multiple platforms, since they wanted the apps to have that native look&feel.
No... You are blaming Apple for enforcing rules that everyone signed instead of blaming the party breaking the rules.
If you are a developer that relies on unreal engine, you should be writing a letter to epic asking them why they are risking your apps by breaking the rules. This would be like saying just because I rely
Okay... so now we went from a monopoly to a duopoly. and because Jeff Johnson said it, it must be true. Apple had a 30% rate before the Google store was even a twinkle in someones eye. I guess Steve Jobs called up Eric Schmidt and said I know you are going to copy our store since you copied our phone so you better make it 30%. Can he show some proof of how these two companies conspired because I have a more probable reason where the 30% came from. Maybe It came from it being the going rate. Do you know that Epic makes most of their money off of consoles, that alone means they don't even need to be on either of Apple's or Google's store. In other words its not essential for their business to be there and they are not being forced by big bad apple and google like implied. I wonder what they are being charged on Sony's and Microsoft's Store, oh yah 30%. I wonder what they were being charged on Steam before they left, oh yah 30%. I guess, your next quote will be from trump explaining what a quintopoly is. I am going to let you in on a little secret. Most retailers charge around 30% to sell their products. I guess we need to start discussing millionopoloys too.
Great summary!
To add to this, Epic does charge much less on their store, and their engine is priced very reasonably in comparison. But the main reason behind it that they want a cut of the pie, so they are using their cash reserves to aggressively recruit developers.
Alrhiugh, seeing how readily they use their customers as collateral, this entire situation might not turn out in their favor.
oohh mate come onnn, when you build such an ecosystem you can have monopoly aswell shut up... what should they do lower the price... ye sure after all the time they invest in app store and everything else they should lower the price ha ha ha
I got my global stats from IDC. I didn't know that Apple only sold phones in the United States. Even if you want to cherry pick one area, a volatile 59% does not constitute a monopoly.
"dabbled" != developing. you might want to edit your messages as insulting users is a ban-able offense.
I'm thrilled about people cheering for Apple while for them it means fewer apps and games. Unreal Engine and Unity are only two serious gaming engines targeting Apple platforms and we're about to lose 50%. Way to go Apple! I hope that Apple Arcade really works out for you.
What would be your strategy for resolving this? Give in and allow Epic to bypass your billing system? Something else? What would you do?
Revise App Store guidelines. You know the climate and PR is very bad for Apple. iPhone nad App Store cut are only two things keeping them alive. It's time to go out of basement, allow alternate App Stores and release next big thing that will earn money instead of Apple Tax.
If that doesn't happen and Apple isn't forced to open up iOS, macOS will be closed up the same way in next 3-4 years. Mark my words, I will certainly dig out this post then.