Hey! Don't give the redditors any ideas, otherwise they will pump up Epic's stock price so that Epic can continue these legal shenanigans!
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Epic Games 'Spent Months' Preparing Lawsuit Against Apple, Codenamed 'Project Liberty'
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About as lame as FB's recent arguments against Apple. Not quite, but almost. Apple is going to start developing games like Fortnite? Gimme a break.
TheYayAreaLiving 🎗️
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My guess is Epic wants to open their own ios game storefront and take on Apple the same way it has taken on Steam on PC? With a 12% developer commission which seems to be their "fair" magic number. They also seem to love exclusivity which isn't particularly consumer friendly. I heard people who bought Hitman 3 on PC can't access the Hitman 1 or 2 levels which were bought on Steam, but console owners get the full three game experience.
The fact of the matter is that Epic wants to build Fortnite into a platform of its own. People already "attend" Fortnite concerts and are starting to use the platform as a sort of virtual world - and that presents innumerable opportunities to sell things. I'm certain that Epic's endgame for Fortnite includes the sale of real-world items (like food, through services like Uber Eats, or clothing and gaming equipment through online stores like Amazon). Epic would love it if Fortnite could get beyond selling virtual skins and could start selling things for real.
Frankly, it's not clear whether it's fair for Apple to get a cut of that (Apple was never the driver of Fortnite's development, growth, or success) - but what is clear is that if Epic is paying Apple 30% for every transaction that happens through an Apple device, it's going to be much harder for Epic to turn a profit in Fortnite's virtual world. This isn't about freedom or liberty so much as it is about Fortnite's profitability.
Frankly, it's not clear whether it's fair for Apple to get a cut of that (Apple was never the driver of Fortnite's development, growth, or success) - but what is clear is that if Epic is paying Apple 30% for every transaction that happens through an Apple device, it's going to be much harder for Epic to turn a profit in Fortnite's virtual world. This isn't about freedom or liberty so much as it is about Fortnite's profitability.
I get that a lot of users want there to be the ability to install 3rd party apps on their devices...but how can they be controlled? Malware is all over the place on the Internet these days. A user who does not know what is happening could inadvertently download and install something like that on their device...just in the same way it happens on computers.
I know, I know, it scam apps, bug and flaws in iOS with backdoors and all, but at least with Apple approving apps for the App Store and it being the only place to get apps it is less likely for this to occur.
I worked in IT Tech Support and the number of times someone put something on their computer because they happened upon a "shady" website was a lot more than you would expect and most of these users did not know much about their computer. These are the users that are going to get in a trap on their phones.
Anyways, I am all for having apps installed through other means than the App Store, but I think it would be more of an issue for users who don't really know the dangers.
I call BS on Epic's position !
The BIGGEST challenge for Small Devs is one of App Discovery, as Tim Cook's App Store has a Complete & Total Stranglehold on App Discovery !
Epic got LOTS of Marketing help from Apple, so they are very-likely Dumb AND/OR just Ignorant on this very key subject.
IMO, Epic's position is ALL-about the Top & Bottom Lines !
Nothing more, nothing else.
More than anything, Tim Cook's Apple needs a 2nd App Store, "one for Adults" & whoever doesn't want Game Apps, & that includes Apple Arcade, for which Cook's Apple appears to be obsessed with.
Does anybody even know who currently runs the App Store ?
Used to be Phil; who took over for him ?
Does anybody know ?
This App Dev does NOT know the answers to those questions.
New Law is definitely needed to force Apple to clean-up its Act !
From my perspective, they have both a Duty & a Responsibility to present the Best Apps to (mutual) customers.
They clearly do NOT do that.
The best New Law would be one that forces Apple to disclose the per-Category App Store Revenue Numbers at the end of each work week !
At least for the App Store here in the States.
Then, Tim Cook's Apple could NO LONGER hide behind the Smoke & Mirrors / Dog & Pony Show strategy they've been using since iPhone Unit Sales took a dive (AFTER moved the iPhone too far upscale, price-wise).
Specifically, once it becomes Common Knowledge that ALMOST ALL of Apple App Store Revenue comes from Game Apps, they will be forced to improve the other categories; I am convinced of that.
Otherwise, they would lose their Monopoly !
NONE of this is Rocket Science.
The BIGGEST challenge for Small Devs is one of App Discovery, as Tim Cook's App Store has a Complete & Total Stranglehold on App Discovery !
Epic got LOTS of Marketing help from Apple, so they are very-likely Dumb AND/OR just Ignorant on this very key subject.
IMO, Epic's position is ALL-about the Top & Bottom Lines !
Nothing more, nothing else.
More than anything, Tim Cook's Apple needs a 2nd App Store, "one for Adults" & whoever doesn't want Game Apps, & that includes Apple Arcade, for which Cook's Apple appears to be obsessed with.
Does anybody even know who currently runs the App Store ?
Used to be Phil; who took over for him ?
Does anybody know ?
This App Dev does NOT know the answers to those questions.
New Law is definitely needed to force Apple to clean-up its Act !
From my perspective, they have both a Duty & a Responsibility to present the Best Apps to (mutual) customers.
They clearly do NOT do that.
The best New Law would be one that forces Apple to disclose the per-Category App Store Revenue Numbers at the end of each work week !
At least for the App Store here in the States.
Then, Tim Cook's Apple could NO LONGER hide behind the Smoke & Mirrors / Dog & Pony Show strategy they've been using since iPhone Unit Sales took a dive (AFTER moved the iPhone too far upscale, price-wise).
Specifically, once it becomes Common Knowledge that ALMOST ALL of Apple App Store Revenue comes from Game Apps, they will be forced to improve the other categories; I am convinced of that.
Otherwise, they would lose their Monopoly !
NONE of this is Rocket Science.
Or they could use that power to pump up the stock, wait for the execs to submit approval to sell, or Epic attempts to buy another company, and then dump the stock to make them worthless.Hey! Don't give the redditors any ideas, otherwise they will pump up Epic's stock price so that Epic can continue these legal shenanigans!
You’d just be trading one boot for another unfortunately. The 900lb gorilla in the room is that everyone’s going to want their own store once epic gets theirs. See pc gaming, EA, Bethesda, Epic, Ubisoft have their own stores. The reason for this is just to control the ability to give refunds and have their own “store currency” like Steam.
The end result of that is that now you’ll have many different stores with questionable (in the case of Steam, non-existant) quality control with zero guarantee of privacy or security. (Say anything you like about Apple on this regard, they have a better track record of those than others while not perfect).
And, as always, there’s Android. A perfectly reasonable alternative which allows sideloading and alternative stores if you wish.
Personally, trading the user experience of iOS for the sake of a smaller commission fee is not a trade I’m willing to make.
I would think that phrasing it as your quote would constitute manipulation. But if it’s coincidental then you right.
IDK. I have a hard time with the fact that a company can intentionally sit on refunds and broken products while earning interest on the consumer's money but consumers are not allowed to buy stock with the intent of decreasing its value.
I miss Steve. He didn’t talk much/often, but when he did, it was gold. I remember him talking DRM and exclusives in music, Flash, and porn on the App Store.
I feel like he’d personally weigh in on this and we’d see something very different happening. Either Apple would be winning a PR battle, or Apple would be shifting business practices so Epic wouldn’t have a case. Or maybe Apple would have shifted business practices several years ago, and we wouldn’t have reached this point.
I feel like he’d personally weigh in on this and we’d see something very different happening. Either Apple would be winning a PR battle, or Apple would be shifting business practices so Epic wouldn’t have a case. Or maybe Apple would have shifted business practices several years ago, and we wouldn’t have reached this point.
If that was Epic’s goal, that’d be fine. But I have my doubts that Epic is in favor of anything as altruistic as that.
Epic themselves are positioned to benefit if they can run their own App Store on iOS/Android, taking any cut for themselves instead of the platform holders. Their specific claims have generally been that the platform holders aren’t entitled to a cut of revenue generated by apps on that platform, rather than Apple is operating a walled garden (if they did, it’d hurt their argument against Google). More choice is still good, but that doesn’t necessarily mean that Epic will only settle for a truly open platform, I expect they will happily settle for one that is just open enough for them to be able to cut Apple/Google out of the profit loop for themselves and anyone else big enough to go solo.
I’d give even odds that assuming Epic wins, it won’t help smaller developers, only ones that don’t necessarily need the help today.
"[The companies] will just do that industry by industry and app category by app category until they've gobbled up everything that matters. And who will be left?"
I'm sorry but this is preposterous. Apple's apps are not number one in any category, some of them don't even make "the list", in spite of being free and pre-installed. There is literally no evidence that this will happen. Epic is a multi-million dollar company who is mad that Apple gets a cut of their cash and feels like they are positioned to swindle a bunch of moronic 14yo's to put the court of public opinion in their pocketbook. Period.
They are not MLK jr. They are not Rosa Parks. They are not oppressed in any way.
I'm sorry but this is preposterous. Apple's apps are not number one in any category, some of them don't even make "the list", in spite of being free and pre-installed. There is literally no evidence that this will happen. Epic is a multi-million dollar company who is mad that Apple gets a cut of their cash and feels like they are positioned to swindle a bunch of moronic 14yo's to put the court of public opinion in their pocketbook. Period.
They are not MLK jr. They are not Rosa Parks. They are not oppressed in any way.
If they want to help small developers, why don't they lower the 30% commission they have on their own Epic Store.
Apple needs to be broken up or allow side loading apps.
They have neither a duty or a responsibility to do any such thing. First, there is no objective standard of “best”.
Second, it’s the app developers responsibility to advertise their products, not Apples.
At best Apple MIGHT have a legal responsibility to ensure their own Apps aren’t unfairly prioritized, but that’s as far as the law should go, unless/until Apple gains a smartphone monopoly.
For everything else the market is doing just fine.