In response, Epic is taking Apple to court. And they’re hosting an in-game event where they show a video. This video compares Apple to George Orwell’s 1984.
Yesterday Epic updated the Fortnite app in the iOS App Store to give players the ability to buy vBucks directly from Epic, instead of using the AppStore. This is against Apple’s policies. So, today Apple removed Fortnite from the App Store.
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Ahahhaha this is so epic, love it!
let them fight
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I respect epic’s decleration of war.
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Epic is referencing this 1984 Macintosh commercial. Which was also referencing George Orwell’s 1984 in response to IBM’s power in the technology industry.
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This will be interesting to watch, also I wonder if this could create some kind of precedent for Xbox to add Xcloud to the Apple store
Neither Apple not Epic is the good or bad guy here. They both act in their own best self interest. But only if these big companies fight and consumers are affected and change behavior, we can get some improvements.
So I’m very much for this without picking a side.
I’m not a big fan of Epic (and Tim Sweeney in particular) but this is pretty good. They released the same change on Android and had no problems.
I wonder if they’ve decided to strike now, after the backlash regarding xCloud? Completely different circumstances obviously but public opinion in the gaming space is pretty negative against Apple at the moment so they’ve seemingly taken advantage. Admittedly, could be a complete coincidence.
Also, using that same as against Apple? Smart.
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Epic will lose, and lose large. They broke the terms that they originally agreed to. This is about putting pressure on Apple with the EU. Both MS and Apple are in trouble with the EU right now for questionable business practices.
You cannot cheer one side, and conveniently ignore the other.
I hope Epic win, Apple need to lose their antitrush process. If they lose, we can have gamepass on iOS
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2020 really never misses in being the most bizarre thing ever huh. Anyways don’t like either of them, Apple has been anti-trust and over-controlling for ages and continues to be, Epic decided to turn this into a very tone-deaf publicity stunt where they bring their fans into it after manipulating and inconveniencing them intentionally. Don’t have to and refuse to take a side or root for either, Apple had more than enough cases against them and will have more in the future.
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I agree with some of what Epic are saying, but I’m not fond of the way they’re weaponizing the young Fortnite fanbase against Apple. Epic aren’t some poor underdog in this fight against big-1984-ish Apple, this is about them making $$$$ by opening their own app store on iOS.
In the legal documents there’s this:
But for Apple’s illegal restraints, Epic would provide a competing app store on iOS devices, which would allow iOS users to download apps in an innovative, curated store and would provide users the choice to use Epic’s or another third-party’s in-app payment processing tool
Glorious! Can’t wait to see how this turns out. I hope Epic wins, better for devs.
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The bigger picture here is how platform holders hold a lot of power over closed ecosystems. And I feel governments will feel the need to deal with these kind of platforms for once and for all. We’ve had Microsoft in the late 90’s/early 00’s. We’ve had Android problems in the early 10’s. And now we’ve got multiple service providers complaining about Apple.
The 30% platform tax is a relic of old times. It was created when an internet store was something revolutionairy, when datacenters weren’t spread all over the world and as cost efficient as they are today. But still platform holders hold on to the 30%… because why not? It seems only Epic is challenging this reality.
If Apple loses a few cases against the likes of Spotify and Epic this could have big consequences for the console space too. Sony and Microsoft dominate the home console market with closed ecosystems. These ecosystems could be seen as anti-competitive.
It’ll be a long time before we see any results from this. And the chance is we won’t see any results at all. But if we want a more consumer friendly internet, where service providers can freely compete (and don’t have to pay 30% of their revenue to a platform holder that doesn’t do much for them) we should applaud this.
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If Apple loses, then that means that MS will also lose with its anti-competitive practices in Office 365 as well. That would definitely hurt MS way more than any potential benefit from being able to put something like XCloud on IOS, so no …
Also, a mega corporation weaponizing little children so that they can make more money off what is essentially “gambling for minors”? Screw them.
If MS is abusing its position for anti-competive actions regarding Office 365 then it’s only fair they’ll be forced to stop that. I don’t have any pity for these big tech corporations.
A fair and level playing field is best for conusmers in the long run. Even if there is a short term pain.
Man, I love Epic these days. Giving out free games on their store, giving out Unreal engine until your game makes $1million, publishing games at a 50/50 split for devs like Playdead.
Yes, of course these moves benefit Epic, but they also benefit us. It’s win/win, and ThatMs the best case scenario in business.
Have you considered yet the MS is running its own walled garden? Sony as well? Do you REALLY think that Epic would stop with Apple? What about Amazon, or Google? Where does it end - there is a LOT more at stake here than whether or not Epic can install its own version of EGS on iPhone, because that is what they are after
Are you one of those that thinks capitalism should be abolished? I’m genuinely wondering, because Apple simply enforced the rules that Epic agreed to … Here’s another piece for you. Have you looked at who actually owns and invests in Epic?
Oh well.