Apple Terminates Epic Games' Developer Account

#1

Post by tosh » Fri, Aug 28, 2020, 8:34 PM UTC

Apple Terminates Epic Games' Developer Account
macrumors.com

Re: Apple Terminates Epic Games' Developer Account

#2

Post by system2 » Fri, Aug 28, 2020, 9:01 PM UTC

I wish every damn micro transaction app gets removed one day. Of course no one will do it but I simply hate everything about these apps forcing parents to pay small fees for stupid pixels because their kids begs them to do it.

Sorry, nothing else new to add to the topic, just venting and have absolutely no sympathy to apps tricking kids to spend money on tiny cellphone games.

My niece begged her mother to buy a roblox dress for $60, it is in a game, not a real dress. Another neighbor's kid spent over $600 for a game called soccer stars. The game is literally gambling. When I hear gaming apps with micro transactions removed I celebrate, no matter what the reason is.

Re: Apple Terminates Epic Games' Developer Account

#3

Post by makecheck » Fri, Aug 28, 2020, 9:06 PM UTC

Of all the things about this, the fact that the Fortnite competitor PUBG is now being “featured” by Apple just ticks me off so much. Talk about being petty. Are there school-aged children running the App Store now (or the executive suite?).

I realize Apple has the right to decide who they feature but come on. Being featured is important, it’s a big deal and it can make a serious difference to any developer’s income and notoriety. The fact that Apple can just deposit something at the top of the list because they’re in a bad mood really says something about Apple: I don’t know, maybe that they’re a bit isolated and immature about this whole thing?

Re: Apple Terminates Epic Games' Developer Account

#4

Post by NathanKP » Fri, Aug 28, 2020, 9:12 PM UTC

makecheck wrote: post #3

Of all the things about this, the fact that the Fortnite competitor PUBG is now being “featured” by Apple just ticks me off so much. Talk about being petty. Are there school-aged children running the App Store now (or the executive suite?). I realize Apple has the right to decide who they feature but come on . Being featured is important , it’s a big deal and it can make a serious difference to any developer’s income…

To be honest Apple has to feature PUBG, because this fight with Epic is hugely damaging to their reputation with the next generation of kids who want devices.

The message that young preteens and teens are hearing is "iPhones and iPads are wack because they don't have the cool game". They don't care about the cost of v-bucks and who gets what percentage of the money. They just care that they can't play a game but their friend at school who has an Android can.

Apple has to feature PUBG because they have to show their customers that they still have cool games to play. Otherwise they run the risk of killing their iPhone gaming market just like they did the Mac gaming market. When you think desktop gaming its pretty likely that you think Windows first, because Mac has a really weak selection of games and many of the biggest titles are Windows only.

That's what Apple is now desperately trying to avoid happening to iOS as well.

Re: Apple Terminates Epic Games' Developer Account

#5

Post by user5994461 » Fri, Aug 28, 2020, 9:12 PM UTC

system2 wrote: post #2

I wish every damn micro transaction app gets removed one day. Of course no one will do it but I simply hate everything about these apps forcing parents to pay small fees for stupid pixels because their kids begs them to do it. Sorry, nothing else new to add to the topic, just venting and have absolutely no sympathy to apps tricking kids to spend money on tiny cellphone games. My niece begged her mother to buy a roblo…

Be clear to the kids that they don't have permissions to spend money in apps, then systematically request for refund and charge back if the app doesn't refund you.

Apps have no basis to deceive children into spending money. Most of their practices are outright illegal depending on the jurisdiction (latin Europe), shouldn't have mercy on them.

Re: Apple Terminates Epic Games' Developer Account

#6

Post by pier25 » Fri, Aug 28, 2020, 9:17 PM UTC

makecheck wrote: post #3

Of all the things about this, the fact that the Fortnite competitor PUBG is now being “featured” by Apple just ticks me off so much. Talk about being petty. Are there school-aged children running the App Store now (or the executive suite?). I realize Apple has the right to decide who they feature but come on . Being featured is important , it’s a big deal and it can make a serious difference to any developer’s income…

This might be a desperate attempt at saying "hey but we do have PUBG!" but OTOH 80% of Fortnite players are on console vs PUBG has 40% of players on mobile [1].

My point being that if PUBG is much more popular that Fortnite on iOS it would only be natural that Apple would want to promote it. I have no idea if that's the case though.

[1] https://newzoo.com/insights/articles/newzoos-battle-royale-s...

Re: Apple Terminates Epic Games' Developer Account

#7

Post by pier25 » Fri, Aug 28, 2020, 9:26 PM UTC

I have zero sympathy for Apple and how they manage iOS, but I do agree that banning Epic from the App Store is only logical.

OTOH I think it is outrageous that breaking the rules from the iOS App Store now bans you from even having an Apple dev account. Unless I'm mistaken, without an Apple dev account you can't even sign a macOS app (different from notarization).

I'm so glad I decided to not make any new projects for an Apple platform.

Re: Apple Terminates Epic Games' Developer Account

#8

Post by vernie » Fri, Aug 28, 2020, 9:31 PM UTC

Cya bish

Re: Apple Terminates Epic Games' Developer Account

#9

Post by ocdtrekkie » Fri, Aug 28, 2020, 9:32 PM UTC

system2 wrote: post #2

I wish every damn micro transaction app gets removed one day. Of course no one will do it but I simply hate everything about these apps forcing parents to pay small fees for stupid pixels because their kids begs them to do it. Sorry, nothing else new to add to the topic, just venting and have absolutely no sympathy to apps tricking kids to spend money on tiny cellphone games. My niece begged her mother to buy a roblo…

FWIW, Epic removing the gambling aspect to loot boxes a lot on Fortnite: https://www.bbc.co.uk/newsround/47039090

I am alright with cosmetic microtransactions, but I think "loot boxes" should be relegated to rewards for play. Microtransactions should be to buy specific items... but leave loot boxes as a way to get random ones for free through normal play.

Re: Apple Terminates Epic Games' Developer Account

#10

Post by ocdtrekkie » Fri, Aug 28, 2020, 9:33 PM UTC

makecheck wrote: post #3

Of all the things about this, the fact that the Fortnite competitor PUBG is now being “featured” by Apple just ticks me off so much. Talk about being petty. Are there school-aged children running the App Store now (or the executive suite?). I realize Apple has the right to decide who they feature but come on . Being featured is important , it’s a big deal and it can make a serious difference to any developer’s income…

The irony here is that PUBG is made with the Unreal Engine, which they're being forced by a judge not to cut off from their platform, and Epic still gets 5% of all revenue from PUBG.