Epic Games Announces 'Fortnite: Save the World' Will No Longer Be Playable on macOS

[ulyssesric]

For Apple to extend its punishment to the Mac as well is quite simply an abuse of its power.

Read this story again, carefully. It’s Epic that proactively abandoned Mac platform. Apple had done nothing to them on Mac. No one can stop Epic from distributing their software outside of Mac App Store but they chose not to. They are trying to act that they’re Robin Hood, but in fact they just make themselves Napoleon the pig.

 

[hot-gril]

The article should really mention that Fornite: Save the World isn't the hugely popular Fortnite battle royale game. It's the separate player-vs-environment mode that's far, far less popular.
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It doesn’t need developers who don’t know how to follow rules.

What rules? None of that listed software is distributed via the Mac App Store.

 

[hot-gril]

Regardless of what you think of Epic or Apple, the reality is that this is another game developer giving up on the Mac as a platform.

Granted, the Mac was never exactly a good platform for gaming, but it's not exactly great to hear that it's getting worse.

Not just that, Epic makes Unreal, a widely used game engine that has supported Mac OS X since version 1. I don't know how this will affect Unreal.

 

[hot-gril]

"Apple Treats All Developers The Same" Tim Cook said.
When we all know they don't

If you state something that's not true, that's a lie IMHO.

Everyone the same except Amazon it seems.

 

[hot-gril]

Epic doesn’t need the MacApp Store to release the game for Mac. This is Epic being petty. They’re giving Apple a good defence that it’s not about unlocking iOS.

It's about clout, same thing that lets Apple make its rules. Apple is within its rights demanding the 30% cut, and Epic is within its rights pulling things from Apple's platforms.

The market (users) make the buying decision in the end. The treatment of developers is the intermediate to that. I don't think Apple has done anything unfair here, but in the past in other ways, they've never treated game devs well. As a result, people who play a lot of computer games don't buy Macs. But the iPhone was just so popular that game devs bent to Apple's way there.

 

[hot-gril]

Are you insinuating that will make gaming easier and more widely supported on a Mac? I find that hard to believe if there is such an architectural difference between the main gaming platform (Windows/x86) and Apple/ARM.

Probably just that the change will coincide with other big changes. That graphical API standards war is what really sets the platforms apart. It was Direct (Windows-only) vs OpenGL, but Apple even kneecapped OpenGL to get people onto Metal.

I don't know why people are so fixated on CPU architecture, as if all devs are writing assembly code. Lower-level tools will require updates.

 

[Unregistered 4U]

Everyone the same except Amazon it seems.

Including Amazon. The rules that apply to Amazon are clearly defined and available to anyone that meets the requirements.

 

[hot-gril]

Including Amazon. The rules that apply to Amazon are clearly defined and available to anyone that meets the requirements.

I'm referring to this: https://www.theverge.com/2020/7/30/...app-store-special-treatment-fee-subscriptions
They negotiated 15% instead of 30% for in-app Prime Video purchases.

 

[TiggrToo]

Everyone the same except Amazon it seems.

Amazon went about this the right way. Quietly and calmly. There were multiple discussions spread over dog knows how many months.

And now, other streaming vendors can take advantage of most of the same deal.

Compare and contrast with Epic’s very public tantrum.

 

[hot-gril]

And now, other streaming vendors can take advantage of most of the same deal.

Can they, though? Which ones have? All I can see is that subscriptions drop to 15% after a year.

 

[TiggrToo]

Can they, though? Which ones have? All I can see is that subscriptions drop to 15% after a year.

Apple relaxes controversial 30% video app sales commission rate

Some streaming services, including Amazon, will benefit from the change in sales cuts.

www.zdnet.com

Don’t have a list myself.

 

[hot-gril]

Apple relaxes controversial 30% video app sales commission rate

Some streaming services, including Amazon, will benefit from the change in sales cuts.

www.zdnet.com

Don’t have a list myself.

Ah, ok. So subscribers with a payment method set up outside the app can buy videos in-app without using IAPs and incurring the 30% fee. My suspicion is you still effectively have to be a big player to get this deal. Also, it's oddly specific that only video apps get it. But it's their store.

 

[Unregistered 4U]

My suspicion is you still effectively have to be a big player to get this deal. Also, it's oddly specific that only video apps get it. But it's their store.

In order to cut that many deals with that many large companies to stream their content, yeah, you’ve pretty much got to be a big player. (Or, you could be a small player with content that people REALLY want to see such that you’ve got the funds and the desire to set up your own payment system.) BUT, there’s nothing “special” about the rule. There’s no “Amazon exclusion”, every company who reaches that level gets the same benefit as Amazon.

 

[sirozha]

...Yes, it is.

No, it’s not.

 

[SubduedTiger]

Good. Apple has been more than reasonable, and it's been a pathetic charade to watch Epic attempt to paint Apple as draconian purely because they believe in providing something for something instead of Epic's idea of something for nothing. This profit is not some consequence of development; it's essential to the entire notion of the App Store.

 

[osxster]

I agree with some commenters, unreal engine on the Mac will go next, and Epic will blame it on Apple. There really needs to be a class action suit against Epic, as it’s more than just losing another developer for the MacOS. It is all of the software customers purchased and paid full price for (Apple receiving a 0 per cent cut) for purchases outside of the AppStore are now gone because of a dispute with Apple over pricing on a completely different platform. Additionally Epic had many other ways to handle this different which would not have gotten the iOS version kicked from the AppStore.

What Amazon and Video providers do for billing apparently isn’t against Apple’s terms of service because you need to manage the purchase outside of the App. This would mean by the website. Epic already had allowed this for Fortnite purchases. You could buy VBucks in the Mac, and Windows versions which would apply to the iOS version if it is logged into the same epic ID. Epic Games could have promoted buying VBucks via the website to get the 30 per cent discount and this would have skirted the rules and not gotten it kicked out of the AppStore. They were kind of doing this already except there use to be no 30 per cent discount buying the VBucks direct. They only introduced the “discount” after intentionally breaking Apple’s rules. Now the customers have to suffer in the hundreds of dollars they have spent on a game they can no longer play because the company they purchased this from is being too greedy.

 

[ThunderSkunk]

I never thought I’d get sick of seeing this color palette, because of how fast it came and went the first time it was overused to death in 1992, but, here we are.

 

[I7guy]

.... These sites are filled with mindless fanboys.

Think it’s fair to say bias runs in all directions. And writing that I’m sure some of what’s posted could be considered “mindless”.

Don’t really see how anybody could support the low handed way Epic why about this.

 

[Chinch07]

I know there is a much larger issue at hand with Apple and epic. However fortnite is much more accessible and playable on console than it ever was or is on iOS. There’s nothing like having a physical controller.

A mouse and keyboard are better 😏

 

[deeddawg]

Don’t really see how anybody could support the low handed way Epic why about this.

Some people form a stance based on logical analysis, some form a stance based on emotion/feeling.

It is usually difficult for someone on one side of that divide to understand the views of someone on the other side.

 

[Luis Augusto Fretes]

It's absolutely outrageous that Apple, or any company, has the power to kick soffware out of an entire operating system. Many of you are blinded by fanboyism, this is unacceptable. We really need the courts, the government, regulatory agencies, somebody, to put an end to this.

I was really excited about the new Apple Silicon Macs, but honestly after witnessing this, I can't possibly commit to using an operating system where people are not allowed to develop freely, distribute and install whatever they want.

It's so mind blowing and disgusting that I had to create account just to comment, I'm usually just a lurker and I prefer to stay away from controversy.

But I've decided that I won't purchase any more products from Apple until this is rectified and l will vote for politicians that are willing to pass legislation to protect the freedom of users and developers alike.

 

[osxster]

Quote: It's absolutely outrageous that Apple, or any company, has the power to kick soffware out of an entire operating system. Many of you are blinded by fanboyism, this is unacceptable. We really need the courts, the government, regulatory agencies, somebody, to put an end to this.

——-

Apple actually doesn’t have the power kick a company out of an entire operating system. They can remove you from their AppStore, but software from companies like Epic Games distribute their software outside of the AppStore for the Mac. The Epic Games installer is a direct download for MacOS. It is 100 per cent Epic Games fault from not releasing the already written version of the new Season of Fortnite. It is entirely out of Apple’s control just like Microsoft has no control over the Epic Games store for Windows and the direct download Android version.

 

[TiggrToo]

It's absolutely outrageous that Apple, or any company, has the power to kick soffware out of an entire operating system. Many of you are blinded by fanboyism, this is unacceptable. We really need the courts, the government, regulatory agencies, somebody, to put an end to this.

I was really excited about the new Apple Silicon Macs, but honestly after witnessing this, I can't possibly commit to using an operating system where people are not allowed to develop freely, distribute and install whatever they want.

It's so mind blowing and disgusting that I had to create account just to comment, I'm usually just a lurker and I prefer to stay away from controversy.

But I've decided that I won't purchase any more products from Apple until this is rectified and l will vote for politicians that are willing to pass legislation to protect the freedom of users and developers alike.

Oh boy...do you have a lot to learn.

All operating systems provide a means to block software from running - it's why we have Anti-virus for starters.


Next, ever since the app store on Apple came into being, it's been very well known that they had the rights under the terms and conditions developers agree to, to block applications etc.

Finally - and most importantly - EPIC STARTED THIS!

This entire debacle was of Epic's creation.

If you want to throw all your toys out the cot/crib then be our guest. Just know you will not be missed on iota, not by Apple and certainly not by Epic.

 

[frenchcamp49er]

It's absolutely outrageous that Apple, or any company, has the power to kick soffware out of an entire operating system. Many of you are blinded by fanboyism, this is unacceptable. We really need the courts, the government, regulatory agencies, somebody, to put an end to this.

I was really excited about the new Apple Silicon Macs, but honestly after witnessing this, I can't possibly commit to using an operating system where people are not allowed to develop freely, distribute and install whatever they want.

It's so mind blowing and disgusting that I had to create account just to comment, I'm usually just a lurker and I prefer to stay away from controversy.

But I've decided that I won't purchase any more products from Apple until this is rectified and l will vote for politicians that are willing to pass legislation to protect the freedom of users and developers alike.

So Apple doesn’t have the freedom to run their own business? Your statement boarders on the absurd. Epic signed a contract they knew what they were getting into they violated said contract and Apple enforced the contract.

 

[MaCheez]

Oh boo hoo... It's been a few days, time for Epic to start crying for pity again!
What makes this even better is the fact they'll be losing money by refunding people as well.

I believe EPIC is smiling. I guess this was in their game plan from the start