Apple has canceled Epic's new developer account, so they can't release their own store or even put their apps in the store of someone else.
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EU Probes Apple's Decision to Shut Down Epic's Developer Account
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I am pretty sure Jobs' rsponse would have been even stronger and more punitive. He was an aggressive business person.
lol, I gleefully tapped the notification when I saw you replied to my comment cause I was like “oh, the dude w this pfp, his takes are usually pretty good”—didn’t disappoint. the only thing Apple is doing to get in the way of their own argument here is bringing up some of Sweeney’s more recent antics, rather than focusing on just how aggressively his company broke the rules (and how they purposefully did so to, in essence, create a lawsuit). focusing even a bit on his “colorful commentary” (lol, Phil’s verbiage never disappoints either) gives off the impression to the everyday person (i.e. someone who hasn’t followed this story for the years it’s played out) that Apple will kick a dev account simply for being critical of their practices (when that’s clearly not the case—Spotify has an account in perfectly good standing, and Daniel Ek will not shut up about Apple’s anticompetitive practices…oh, the irony)Has epic done anything to show that they are genuine in wanting to return to the iOS App Store at all, or were they simply one of the many companies criticising Apple and cheering on the DMA every step of the way?
From what I have seen, Tim Sweeney has basically been acting like a sore loser every step of the way. Maybe I would too if I were in his shoes and my own personal pride took precedence over the financial well-being of my company, but I doubt he has even attempted to reach out to Apple on how to go about getting Fortnite reinstated in the App Store. If he would rather make do with 100% of nothing over 70% of something, then that's on him, I guess.
If Tim Sweeney is waiting for the way when the iOS App Store is forced to open up and allow sideloading to every iPhone user around the world, it's going to be a long time before that happens. Will he even still be CEO then?
Not at all unlike what Sony and Nintendo are doing with their game consoles. What exactly does Nintendo do to deserve a 30% cut of every game sold again?
also, ty for drawing that parallel to video game consoles…how does it boggle the mind of so many that the people maintaining these platforms need a source of income to do so?
Actually, famously, yes: Apple on iPhone 15 Pro: 'The best game console is the one you have with you'
The market does not just consist of consumers, and it is also not running rampant, at least not in the EU.
Good luck with that. Negative revenue growth in 2023. Trouble with iphone sales in china. Investors would certainly be delighted to hear that Apple is also leaving its second largest market.
If America reelects Trump, I see every possibility of a trade war with the EU and a reigniting of the tensions with China. You'll need NAFTA if you lose EU and Chinese markets.
*We ALL lose from a trade war, btw.
Ah, I mis-understood the fee structure of the new EU contracts. it's Apple App Store fees that are reduced in favour of the Core Technology Fee across the board for all Devs.
Yes ... almost certainly Epic were going to rack up the Fortnite downloads, smash past 1 million installs and then challenge the legality of Apples Core Technology Fee in a European Court.
Who makes the developer tools epic would need to use to publish their games in an alt store? Why would Apple allow them to use them, especially when all epic has done is slagged them off and broke their contractual agreement at every turn?
If epic had just kept quiet, they’d be enjoying that money now. But this is their fault, and they 100% deserve it
"soon"
Just play by the rules and you are fine.
Apples Market in Russia is gone, Apples market in China is falling. They cant accept another big market going down.
Agreed. This is why this situation is so difficult - both sides can be said to be acting in bad faith.
Yeah but he also knew how to make deals and not get baited by other companies. Also I don’t think he would have been as wedded to the App Store as a cash cow/profit center as Tim Cook/Phil Schiller are. Remember, when the App Store first launched Jobs said they intended to run it as break-even. That is clearly not the case now. Services is a bigger and bigger part of Apple’s revenue pie. Vision Pro isn’t going to put a dent in that. Unless Apple has another iPhone like hit they’re going to continue to ring as much money as they can out of the App Store.
Apple requires a developer account, so without that you can't start an alternative store or release your app in a store someone else made. Downloading an app via the browser like on macOS is not possible, so Epic can't do anything.
Epic - don't throw stones when you live in a glass house. If that developer account was so precious you shouldn't have breached your contract
The European Commission has requested "further explanations" from Apple over its decision yesterday to terminate the developer account of Epic Games, the Financial Times reports.
The EC said it was investigating under the Digital Markets Act (DMA), a new law aimed at curbing the power of the biggest online platforms. Tech companies faced a March 7 deadline to comply with the legislation. The Commission added that it was also evaluating whether Apple's actions might have breached other EU laws.
Apple on Wednesday announced the termination of Epic Games Sweden's developer account on a global scale, citing the game developer's recurrent untrustworthy actions. Apple said courts had previously granted Apple the authority to end the accounts of any of Epic's subsidiaries due to contractual infractions.
The move thwarted Epic's plan to launch an Epic Games Store on iOS in the EU and bring its Fortnite game back to the iPhone, which it claimed was in line with new EU regulations allowing for alternative app marketplaces on iOS. Starting with iOS 17.4, Apple allows alternative app marketplaces on the iPhone in the EU, as part of its compliance with the DMA. Epic argues that Apple's account termination violates the DMA and significantly limits competition on iOS devices.
Epic condemned Apple's decision as a violation of competitive principles, interpreting it as evidence of Apple's unwillingness to allow legitimate competition on its platform. The company claimed Apple's action was an attempt to eliminate a major potential rival to the App Store.
Apple's action was the latest in a broader legal conflict that started in 2020 when Apple removed Fortnite from the App Store for bypassing its payment system rules. In retaliation, Epic launched lawsuits in the U.S. and Australia, accusing Apple of anti-competitive behavior.
Article Link: EU Probes Apple's Decision to Shut Down Epic's Developer Account
EU - if Apple stops investing in jobs in your regions, the blame falls on this over reaching organization.
This is getting way out of hand.
Yeah so exactly like Loblaws up here in Canada.
If you're going to sit there and say Walmart isn't a monopoly idk what to tell you
Apple could have made it much easier for all parties involved by implementing the same rules they have used on macOS for ages. We can install a .dmg file from anywhere if we accept to allow installing from anybody in Security beforehand and then “Ok” it again on the “Untrusted developer” pop-up window. This would be it, the whole world happy and Apple can wash their hands free any potential security issues. Again, as on a Mac.
EU isn't forcing Apple to host Epic's content. The parallel you are trying to illustrate doesn't exist.
My point is that whether something qualifies as a game console or a general purpose computer is (to my knowledge) not defined under any current law.
This distinction is something totally made up by this forum for the purposes of justifying why Apple deserves greater scrutiny than Nintendo and while that might pass muster with the common layman, I have a hard time seeing that argument holding up in court.
Yes, but to the masses your app is not trustworthy if you can't be bothered to get it notarized - the warning before you install it is pretty strongly worded.
In much of the U.S., that is the only way you can get around. There are no alternatives.