Epic Games Asks Judge to Force Apple to Approve Fortnite for US App Store

[Lounge vibes 05]

No it does not make sense. Apple is not a house, it’s a company. And company have to comply with strict laws and regulations. They can’t make up rules and ban those who do not follow them.

There is no law saying that epic can’t be banned from Apple’s AppStore. That’s just not a thing.
We can argue that there should be a way to install apps from outside of Apple‘s wall garden, that’s a perfectly fine argument to make, that I agree with in theory.
But even then, there is absolutely no law, nor should there be a law, saying that Apple has to host epic games on the US AppStore. If Apple wants to ban Epic for any reason they are perfectly in their right to do so, just like Google can remove your video from YouTube if they don’t like it and there is really nothing you can do about it.

 

[spazzcat]

hahaha I don't think Apple is going to let Epic win that easily. They have no obligation to approve the US Store game.

And if the judge rule they have to it will build the stronger appeal.

 

[mrochester]

Epic USA made that contract, the submitting party is Epic Sweeden (or something like that). It's a fine line, but as I've pointed out in other threads, Apple absolutely plays game using regions and subsidiaries, so it's rather hypocritical to not let Epic do the same.

I think Apple are entitled to be as hypocritical as they please, it’s their store.

 

[thiscatisfat]

And why is that because said developer took them to court to get better terms and as a consequence of that payment links are no allowed on the USA App Store
Unless you think that individuals don’t have the right to try & get better terms?

Try? Yes. Accept Apple's "no" and move on? Also yes. Break the rules and get banned? 100% yes. It's Apple's platform, they set the rules and you either go with it or not.

 

[djphat2000]

Yeah Petty is not a great look for Apple, especially with the multiple lawsuits they’re dealing with on several fronts currently.
Just approve the game and move on so both sides can stop talking about it and gamers can be happy. Is that really such a big ask?

Can Apple now force via this same ruling any developer to make their games for the Mac? Same prices they sell it for on PC and same release date.
Just trying to be fair.

 

[thiscatisfat]

No it does not make sense. Apple is not a house, it’s a company. And company have to comply with strict laws and regulations. They can’t make up rules and ban those who do not follow them.

The rule Epic broke was there way before Fornite existed if I'm not mistaken. And yes, they can definitely make up this rule and if you submit your App, you agree to Apple's terms and if you later add something that goes against the terms into your app, the platform owner can definitely kick you out.

 

[ds2000]

Do Apple really need to approve it? Its their store?
My garage is currently empty, can a judge force me to let my neighbor use it?

 

[thiscatisfat]

Do Apple really need to approve it? Its their store?
My garage is currently empty, can a judge force me to let me neighbor use it?

It looks like Sweeney doesn't agree with this simple concept. Sweeney is your neighbor and he's suing you for you not letting him sell his lawnmowers in your garage.

 

[Radeon85]

Hopefully the judge tells Apple to approve it and not to be bloody childish and petty about it, or else.

 

[Princejb134]

Apple should just let Fornite into the App Store. It could help their name get bigger now that it's allowed. I think Cook just doesn't want to change anything.

Is more of Epic trying to force their views on Apple. Remember all this started because Epic broke Apples applications rules.

Would you let someone enter your house and just start making rules? I think not

 

[ijordano]

Looking a bit desperate tbh

 

[ToothBlueth]

It looks like Sweeney doesn't agree with this simple concept. Sweeney is your neighbor and he's suing you for you not letting him sell his lawnmowers in your garage.

These analogies are dumb and uninformative. For one, iOS is not just Apple, it is also their users and developers. It is not a clear cut ownership like your neighbours garage, and because of its interdependence between users, developers and Apple, it is quite a public affair. There is not a single analogy that can put this complex question in perspective.

 

[mrochester]

These analogies are dumb and uninformative. For one, iOS is not just Apple, it is also their users and developers. It is not a clear cut ownership like your neighbours garage, and because of its interdependence between users, developers and Apple, it is quite a public affair. There is not a single analogy that can put this complex question in perspective.

lol what?! Apple owns iOS completely.

 

[egdiroh]

If Epic Wins:
- Epic sues to make apple promote them in the app store
then:
- Epic sues apple to give them portion of device sales profit since some people load their app.
then:
- Epic sues apple to make them optimize their operating systems to minimize effort required for epic games developers.

They don't want to pay for the things they use, and want all the profit from any transaction that has anything to do with him.

 

[ToothBlueth]

lol what?! Apple owns iOS completely.

And nowhere do I deny that, but that does not mean Apple can do whatever it wants. And most importantly, my focus was on the point that the analogies don't make anysense.

Edit: well, I say it is not a clear cut ownership. Of course Apple owns iOS, but the questions that arise from Apple's tight grip on iOS are a public affair.

 

[PhilJustRidingAlong]

There is no law that forces any company to sell another company's product.
If Apple chooses to not allow Fornite to be sold from it's store then that is it's right.

It's the same as if Walmart did not want to sell Heinz products in it's stores, Heinz could not force it to.

It also works the other way, if Walmart wanted to sell Heinz products in it's stores and Heinz said no, then there is nothing Walmart can do.

 

[BuffaloTF]

Other than the eventual court order, no.
That’s why I said “petty,” not “criminal.”
Bigger thing to do here would be stop punishing two user bases over this nonsense and just approve the app.

Maybe they just want a new contract with them with something they can guarantee since they breached the previous one. Shoot, maybe they’ll even try to put in that contract they need to use Apple’s payment system so we can still pretend Apple is the vindictive one here and Epic is riding a white horse. Me though? I don’t think a new contract that can be enforced with new terms would be asking too much since they’re trying to slide this in under a company registered in Europe, creating another jurisdiction for oversight.

 

[germanbeer007]

initiated by the biggest big corp in the world.

lmao, Apple has only opened up the App Store and relaxed the fees since inception of the App Store.

 

[ToothBlueth]

There is no law that forces any company to sell another company's product.
If Apple chooses to not allow Fornite to be sold from it's store then that is it's right.

It's the same as if Walmart did not want to sell Heniz products in it's stores, Heniz could not force it to.

It also works the other way, if Walmart wanted to sell Heniz products in it's stores and Heniz said no, then there is nothing Walmart can do.

I guess there are rules of abuse of power. Microsoft was fined for similar practices in the early 00s.

Analogies with supermarkets also ignore the complexities that arise from this case.

 

[cocky jeremy]

And I thought the CEO of Spotify was a whiny little bitch. He's got nothing on this guy.

 

[surferfb]

Really have a hard time seeing how Epic win this one. From page 179 the judge's original ruling (emphasis mine):

(i) Apple’s termination of the DPLA and the related agreements between Epic Games and Apple was valid, lawful, and enforceable, and (ii) Apple has the contractual right to terminate its DPLA with any or all of Epic Games’ wholly owned subsidiaries, affiliates, and/or other entities under Epic Games’ control at any time and at Apple’s sole discretion.

 

[snak-atak]

The dispute has already affected Fortnite's availability globally. Epic claims its game disappeared from the EU App Store on Friday because of Apple's decision to block its US submission. Apple countered by asking Epic to resubmit the app without including the US storefront "so as not to impact Fortnite in other geographies."

I bet Epic is doing this because they realized that few people want to switch to Epic’s storefront even in the EU. So now they tie the EU accessibility to the US. To them, the EU is just another pawn in their game to force Apple to hand over full control to Epic worldwide.

And if Epic wins, this won’t be the end. They’ll then try to get as many apps to join Epic’s storefront and collect on all of them. It’s not about Fortnite or the EU or even Apple. They want to monopolize the entire app store industry. Everyone is a pawn to them. EU, Fortnite gamers, every other commercial app out there, AND their customers.

 

[djphat2000]

Or, they can simply change how they charge for hosting subscription and paid apps. No one has said Apple must host apps for free.

This would be a brand new set of rules everyone that currently is on the platform would have to adapt to. What is good for one may not be as good for others. The price charged will affect services/benefits offered.

 

[Tagbert]

hahaha I don't think Apple is going to let Epic win that easily. They have no obligation to approve the US Store game.

other than that the reason Epic was kicked out of the store was for breaking an Apple rule that the courts have deemed illegal.

 

[TechTexan]

Yeah Petty is not a great look for Apple, especially with the multiple lawsuits they’re dealing with on several fronts currently.
Just approve the game and move on so both sides can stop talking about it and gamers can be happy. Is that really such a big ask?

Why they (Epic), broke their agreed TOS. They don’t have a US App Store account. They tired to submit their app from a euro account. So they want special treatment? Follow the rules.