Epic Games CEO Tim Sweeney Teases Fortnite Returning to iOS in 2023 as Legal Battle Continues

[mdatwood]

Apple has already tipped their hand with how they will handle side loaded apps.

Apple to charge 27% fee for Dutch dating apps using alternative payment options | TechCrunch

Following a court order, developers working on dating apps don’t have to use Apple’s in-app purchase system in the Netherlands. And because those

techcrunch.com

Apple has positioned and viewed iOS devices more like consoles than PCs, and I expect them to continue operating in that manner. The EU law is poorly worded and gives Apple a lot of leeway here.

 

[spazzcat]

Except epic doesn’t want to sell on apple’a highest shelf, or indeed on any apple’s shelf. Epic doesn’t want to use the App Store at all, and instead using their own epic store. You would be demanding Costco not to use their shelves, and I’m sure Costco can force you to sell your stuff in their store.

So you say Costco should let me open up my store inside their place? Got it ...

 

[Populus]

Maybe Tim Sweeney has info that we don’t? Regarding changes coming to the Apple devices in 2023…

I don’t know, but as a Fortnite player, I’d like to see how it runs on my M2 iPad Pro.

 

[4743913]

I demand that CostCo allow me to sell my cereal on the highest visible shelf and I demand Costco not charge me anything for this privilege!

for installing software on an iOS device (I'm not using the ridiculous sideloading term anymore), your analogy is flawed. it's more accurate to say "I am taking my cereal across the street, setting up a table, selling it for whatever I want, directly to eaters."

 

[Eric9610]

Once apple is forced to allow side loading very few companies will care about working with apple. Have a look at the Mac App Store, it’s basically empty because nobody wants to have to argue with apple about silly unreasonable rules that keep changing and are to nobody’s benefit except apple’s.

You clearly know nothing about software distribution and the use of API’s. It is standard practice today in the software industry to charge an annual fee to use the API’s. Most large scale software used on enterprise level implementation bill this way, they base the fee in size of organization and annual sales revenue (required verification).

In the end the fee will be larger or = to 30%. Unfortunately the EU does not know what they are doing and this will hurt consumers in the end. I also doubt the EU will change the way software distribution fees are collected as many companies in the EU use and generate lots of revenue charging the same API access fees.

 

[Armada2]

Hey Sweeney I think you should concentrate on Fortnite more and the kids rather than Apple after their latest fine..

"FTC fines Fortnite maker Epic Games $520M over children’s privacy and item shop charges"​

 

[Haiku_Oezu]

Looking forward to not playing it on my iPhone either!

With all the good games I have left to play on my Steam account alone why would I waste my storage and time on a skinnerbox digital goods store combo posing as a videogame?

 

[JM]

Based on the earlier thread on the topic of sideloading, and until Apple unveils their plans for this, I have come to the following conclusion.

1) Apple will likely allow sideloading, but not third party app stores. We also don't know what sort of restrictions will be placed on side loaded apps, so I doubt many people will actually go through the hassle of sideloading Fortnite. In the very least, the absence of Fortnite from the App Store has not impact iPhone sales materially.

2) Apple will still attempt to charge Epic 27% of IAP revenue for apps sideloaded in this manner. At the end of the day, Epic is no better off just agreeing to pay Apple 30% in order to return to the App Store.

Of course the EU gets the final say, but I suspect that Tim Sweeney is celebrating too prematurely here.

Apple will allow sideloading, but you’ll have to rent the self repair briefcase to hook your phone up to do it.

 

[lazyrighteye]

Sweeney is such a scum-bag. His whole argument/angle with iOS was amateur, at best. It never, ever, once had anything to do with what he claimed. It was never, ever, once about the customer: the kids. It was alway 100% about an Epic App Store and his ego. And pushed his agenda at the expense of pre-teens. What an epic D-bag.

Epic Games to Pay $520 Million Over Children’s Privacy and Trickery Charges (Published 2022)

The creator of Fortnite and other popular games violated children’s privacy and duped millions of users into unwanted purchases, federal regulators said.

www.nytimes.com

 

[Havoc035]

I'm getting a little tired of this Sweeney's constant trolling and smear campaigns.

 

[Mrkevinfinnerty]

Apple has already tipped their hand with how they will handle side loaded apps.

Apple to charge 27% fee for Dutch dating apps using alternative payment options | TechCrunch

Following a court order, developers working on dating apps don’t have to use Apple’s in-app purchase system in the Netherlands. And because those

techcrunch.com

Apple has positioned and viewed iOS devices more like consoles than PCs, and I expect them to continue operating in that manner. The EU law is poorly worded and gives Apple a lot of leeway here.

Not the same at all.

Every month, app developers will have to send a report of digital sales related to apps hosted on the App Store. After that, Apple will send an invoice related to its 27% commission.

In this case the apps are still being hosted on the App Store so Apple is still able to make claim to a commission. That isn't the case for apps that the user sideloads.

 

[subi257]

And you think the eu would be fine with that? They would hit even harder and rightly so.

At some point....screw EU and move on

 

[AppliedMicro]

Does that mean I can create my own Fortnite store ? Epic has to allow developers to sell skins.

Certainly, if and once Epic has been designated a gatekeeper.

So no, probably not anytime soon.

As a result of Epic boneheaded move parents had to explain why Fortnite for iPad was no longer good enough to work with their friends xbox and playstation during the height of the pandemic.

Boneheaded?
They couldn’t have illustrated Apple‘s anticompetitive policies more clearly for any EU politician that eventually got to vote on the DMA:

You have a product (Fortnite).
You begin to sell additional „accessories“ or add-ins directly to customers.
Apple swiftly boots you from their platform.

I'm not against side-loading or 3rd party app stores per se. My concern is that big developers will abandon the Apple App Store and sell exclusively from their sites. I trust Apple's App Store. Not so much the other guys.

Use other apps from the App Store then - problem solved.

 

[MasterControlProgram]

I have a feeling apple is gana do something like abolish App Store fees and instead make a Xcode fee. Any app built with Xcode needs to payout 30% of revenue and if someone tried to make an app with third party tools apple will break it like how they used to break palms integration with iTunes.

lol, it would actually be quite hilarious if Apple allowed sideloading but knobbled Xcode so that it only produces binaries capable of running on the App Store. That way anyone who wants to build apps outside of the App Store has to write their own compiler, libraries and tool chain before they can start to distribute apps.

It seems perfectly fair too. Why should Apple fund the development and maintenance of a full development environment and software library for people who don’t pay anything for it?

 

[oneoldpotato]

Apple device is a country
Apple is a government

developers/consumer are population of country

If population want to work and live in country they pay tax to government

governments don’t own countries.
If you want to open a shop in a country you pay tax to government.

 

[jinnj]

Tim Sweeney is not willing to give it up, huh? What a waste of money with the lawyers. Epic Fail.

This is all being funded by Tencent and all of the companies they have investments in. When alt app stores actually happen you will see a Tencent owned store with a collection of apps for social and payments all managed by this company.

 

[jinnj]

Nah, Apple will be forced to change their absurd App Store policies in order to remain competitive. At the end of the day a smaller cut of revenue is better than nothing.

They already have the smaller cut of revenue. Other platforms (Xbox, Playstation, Switch) charge you for every little action you perform on their platform. Want to release a bugfix to your game. Prepare to pay for it.

 

[5105973]

Is anyone out there still care for Fortnite to make a return in iOS or have you moved on?

My kids and their friends moved on.

 

[pacalis]

Sweeney is such a scum-bag. His whole argument/angle with iOS was amateur, at best. It never, ever, once had anything to do with what he claimed. It was never, ever, once about the customer: the kids. It was alway 100% about an Epic App Store and his ego. And pushed his agenda at the expense of pre-teens. What an epic D-bag.

Epic Games to Pay $520 Million Over Children’s Privacy and Trickery Charges (Published 2022)

The creator of Fortnite and other popular games violated children’s privacy and duped millions of users into unwanted purchases, federal regulators said.

www.nytimes.com

Yes, play for "free" game developer complains about Apple's percentage of "free."

Kick's kids on Apple platform to the curb during the pandemic because the freemium can't be gamified as easily on Apple.

Proves he is a bad actor by breaking the contract with Apple, making a video about it and then suing everyone while selling out to Tencent and paying a record COPPA fine.

Epic D-bag indeed.

 

[Jensend]

Hey I want to sell my saws in Home Depot stores but I DEMAND that I be allowed to sell them and not have to pay Home Depot anything. Their shelf space fixtures, utilities, cashiers, stockpeople, facility platform etc is not my problem and I WILL NOT pay them for it. Same thing with Apple screw them and their platform costs!….I mean this whole thing brought by Epic is absolutely absurd lol.

This is what happens on MacOS. Do you think Apple allowing developers to develop and sell apps for MacOS that don’t go through the App Store is absurd?
If you believe Apple should continue allowing developers to sell apps directly to Mac users, can you explain why your analogy doesn’t cover the Mac?

 

[pacalis]

My kids and their friends moved on.

Not the case for us. If the marketplace is defined as pre-teen battle royal, Fortnite is pretty much a monopoly.

 

[JimmyHook]

“Apple shouldn’t be allowed to control the thing they single-handedly created and funded!”

- Twitter Weirdos

 

[JimmyHook]

Sideloading will be a game changer, we can finally have emulators and game streaming apps without having to jailbreak or jump through hoops. The iPhone is about to become the ultimate portable gaming machine.

It won’t work the way you think it will. Platform rules will still have to be followed.

 

[JimmyHook]

This is what happens on MacOS. Do you think Apple allowing developers to develop and sell apps for MacOS that don’t go through the App Store is absurd?
If you believe Apple should continue allowing developers to sell apps directly to Mac users, can you explain why your analogy doesn’t cover the Mac?

Apple created both platforms. They are allowed to make the rules.

 

[JimmyHook]

The eu won’t allow apple to charge a fee on apps installed from other stores or from the developer website. Epic will eventually get what it asked for and apple will have to comply. Kudos to epic for making it better for all of us.

Ummm… EU rules do allow Apple to charge a rate regardless of the “storefront”