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Apple Terminates Epic Games' Developer Account

macrumors.com

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Re: Apple Terminates Epic Games' Developer Account

#211

Post by judge2020 »

013a wrote: post #92
coliveira wrote: post #49

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I don't know if you remember the 90s, but at the time MS was the ONLY monopoly in personal computing. Intel was the other big force, but even they had competition on AMD. All other companies had not even a slim of hope of controlling the ecosystem like MS had. Now we have Apple, but you still can buy Google devices and do whatever you want outside their walled garden.

I think its really important the narrative stays clear concerning this: Its never been about users having choice (because users do have choice): Its about Developers not having a choice. Refusing to release an iOS app for your web application/game/etc is generally a death sentence, so much so that oftentimes you see new services release as "Get it on the iOS app store, Android coming soon."

Of course the argument for this is "why are iOS users more inclined to purchase games and IAPs compared to Android users?". I'm legitimately curious about this, but my first guess is these two factors:

A. iOS is generally more expensive and thus users are more likely to have disposable income

B. The IAP system means the only barrier to purchasing stuff on a completely new app is performing touch/face ID

Re: Apple Terminates Epic Games' Developer Account

#212

Post by eknkc »

librish wrote: post #160

Can someone who's on Apple's side here elaborate on why they think the outcome for consumers would be worse if they're forced to loosen some of their restrictions? It's very unlikely that app developers choose to forgo the AppStore since it will be driving the majority of app installs even in a completely open world for years to come. And if they do choose to forgo that distribution channel that should be seen as a v…

They are not acting rational in these kind of discussions.

Most Apple users are deeply locked into the ecosystem. I guess it is sunk cost fallacy, now even though the cracks are clearly showing they don't want to see Apple fail in any way. You'll see people rationalize anything Apple does without blinking.

And it makes sense too. If I use a mac, iphone, apple watch, airpods, have all my photos on iCloud etc I would not want Apple to face any hurdles.

Re: Apple Terminates Epic Games' Developer Account

#214

Post by scarface74 »

amelius wrote: post #143
bitxbit wrote: post #111

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Might be an unpopular opinion but I don’t think they are acting to the level of MSFT in the 90s. What MSFT did would be equivalent to Apple forcing everyone to use its apps and not allow any competing apps. Also recall that Jobs was pretty adamant about allowing third-party apps in the beginning. Now, do I think 30% is ridiculous in 2020? Yes. But it made sense a decade ago when having a half decent working app almos…

But where is the equivalent of the browser-ballot screen? [1] Why don't we apply the same principle to the App store? [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/BrowserChoice.eu

From your article.

Competing browsers saw their traffic increase,[16] suggesting that these smaller competing developers were gaining users. However, long-term trends show browsers such as Opera and Firefox losing market share in Europe, calling into question the usefulness of the browser choice screen.

Re: Apple Terminates Epic Games' Developer Account

#215

Post by AnthonyMouse »

anonymousab wrote: post #121
chrisco255 wrote: post #68

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Ultimately if Apple bends if will be good for the users in the long run. That's what matters. And if Apple doesn't bend, we need antitrust action against these monopolies anyways.

If Apple bends it will be to settle and cut a special deal with Epic. They will never let it go far enough to truly threaten their walled garden.

> If Apple bends it will be to settle and cut a special deal with Epic.

But then who isn't going to want to take their place and get their own "special deal"?

Re: Apple Terminates Epic Games' Developer Account

#216

Post by shajznnckfke »

jacquesm wrote: post #46
oneplane wrote: post #20

Not sure why people are surprised or consider it giant news. > The court recommended that Epic follow the App Store’s guidelines and policies while the case is in progress – the rules they followed over the past ten years until they created the current situation themselves. Epic refused. Well duh, this is a show match court fight of Epic Games not liking the rules and not getting the special treatment they want. No m…

> just a bunch of legal departments having a fight. At the expense of the users, in both the figurative and the literal sense of the word.

Currently, Epic’s existing users on iOS are able to make in-app purchases without paying Apple’s 30% fee, which is literally saving them an expense. They are better off than before. Epic being blocked from issuing updates may eventually make them worse off (and it makes prospective new users worse off).

Re: Apple Terminates Epic Games' Developer Account

#217

Post by mxfh »

n42 wrote: post #63
gameswithgo wrote: post #38

Earlier quoted context omitted.

people familiar with Tim Sweeny’s life and ideology know that it is an actual important issues to him that platforms be open. your cynical take is often very true but there are sometimes real human ideals behind things.

interesting, then, that he is solely responsible for introducing marketplace exclusivity deals to PC gaming.

Sure Origin was a failure, but that much of one? Anyone remembers "only on Origin".

Re: Apple Terminates Epic Games' Developer Account

#218

Post by coliveira »

grumple wrote: post #194
coliveira wrote: post #49

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I don't know if you remember the 90s, but at the time MS was the ONLY monopoly in personal computing. Intel was the other big force, but even they had competition on AMD. All other companies had not even a slim of hope of controlling the ecosystem like MS had. Now we have Apple, but you still can buy Google devices and do whatever you want outside their walled garden.

How were they a monopoly if Apple had their own OS? As did many others? Microsoft got hit for antitrust because of bundled software. What Apple does is far worse imo, not just bundling software, but the control over the store/devices is nuts.

Apple had less than 5% of the desktop market. At some point in the 90s Apple was going bankrupt quickly! MS had to step in and invest in Apple so that it wouldn't close down leaving MS as the only company in the personal computer OS market.

Re: Apple Terminates Epic Games' Developer Account

#219

Post by buzzerbetrayed »

Touche wrote: post #170

IANAL and I cannot judge the legal merits of this case. I did read Apple's response though and I found the argument not a compelling justification for their practices. A big part of their response is to justify the need for the 30% as a mechanism to recoup costs. That sounds perfectly reasonable until you realize that Epic is not allowed to recoup its own costs for the higher App Store cost by increasing their produc…

> Epic is not allowed to recoup its own costs for the higher App Store cost by increasing their product cost by 30%

What are you talking about? Epic can price their product however they want. Why do you think Youtube Premium costs more on iOS than on any other platform?

Re: Apple Terminates Epic Games' Developer Account

#220

Post by scarface74 »

jayd16 wrote: post #197
bitxbit wrote: post #111

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Might be an unpopular opinion but I don’t think they are acting to the level of MSFT in the 90s. What MSFT did would be equivalent to Apple forcing everyone to use its apps and not allow any competing apps. Also recall that Jobs was pretty adamant about allowing third-party apps in the beginning. Now, do I think 30% is ridiculous in 2020? Yes. But it made sense a decade ago when having a half decent working app almos…

Apple does ban apps that replace built in functionality.

That is a provably false claim.

Podcasts - Overcast, PocketCasts, etccc

Music - Spotify, Rhapsody, Amazon Music

Books - Kindle.

Maps - Google Maps

Mail - Gmail, Yahoo Mail

...

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