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Apple Terminates Epic Games' Developer Account

macrumors.com

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Re: Apple Terminates Epic Games' Developer Account

#391

Post by AJ007 »

gameswithgo wrote: post #38
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…

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.

He was very vocal years back when Microsoft was trying to pull off with UWP - https://www.gamesindustry.biz/articles/2016-03-04-tim-sweene... - That is too much to go in to here, but I would recommend reading about it if you are concerned about being able to do things like load the software you want on to Windows.

Tim Sweeney is thinking years ahead of most other people. In the case of Google and Apple, I suspect what he is actually concerned about is these two companies have control over a VR/AR/XR "metaverse" platform. There are hours of audio and transcripts about him talking about this as well.

https://blog.siggraph.org/2019/10/siggraph-spotlight-episode...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h6ClJxjuRvw

Re: Apple Terminates Epic Games' Developer Account

#392

Post by lnanek2 »

jacquesm wrote: post #309
shajznnckfke wrote: post #216

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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).

No, not the users. It's Epic not paying Apple's 30% cut. You have that backwards.

That's not true at all. This whole thing started when Epic released a direct pay feature in their iOS app that gave a 30% discount for direct pay straight to the users. You can argue whatever you like about the big corps legal departments, but it's inarguable that users using the direct pay feature are paying less right now.

Re: Apple Terminates Epic Games' Developer Account

#393

Post by Me1000 »

outworlder wrote: post #335
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…

I agree. Epic could have taken the matter directly to the courts and taken action (whatever it was) after a verdict. Heck, they could even have tried to make a case to the European Union, which seems to have a knack for pursuing this kind of thing. A ruling over there wouldn't directly impact the rest of the world, but it could get the ball rolling. Instead, they decided to make a spectacle of this whole issue to try…

Without taking this action and being removed from the App Store, Epic would not have had standing[0] to sue Apple. Their lawsuit would have likely just been thrown out.

[0] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Standing_(law)

Re: Apple Terminates Epic Games' Developer Account

#394

Post by hamandcheese »

outworlder wrote: post #335
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…

I agree. Epic could have taken the matter directly to the courts and taken action (whatever it was) after a verdict. Heck, they could even have tried to make a case to the European Union, which seems to have a knack for pursuing this kind of thing. A ruling over there wouldn't directly impact the rest of the world, but it could get the ball rolling. Instead, they decided to make a spectacle of this whole issue to try…

> Customers are being used as cannon fodder here.

Just because Epic stands to make an extra buck or two doesn't mean that their incentives are not aligned with small developers and consumers in this particular moment.

Re: Apple Terminates Epic Games' Developer Account

#395

Post by hnick »

mxfh wrote: post #217
n42 wrote: post #63

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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".

Battle.net is a store with de facto exclusivity too under those standards, and is less of a failure.

Re: Apple Terminates Epic Games' Developer Account

#396

Post by dehrmann »

shajznnckfke wrote: post #240
dogma1138 wrote: post #57

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Microsoft takes 30% on Xbox plus its much more expensive to develop and publish on that platform overall. Neither Tinder nor Spotify will transfer any savings to the end users. Spotify has been ramping their sub costs considerably my sub went up by like 150% in the UK over the past 3-4 years. Tinder employs discriminatory pricing by charging certain genders, age groups and sexual orientations more for their premium s…

If you’re claiming that Spotify would get all the benefit of a break in the fee, you’re implicitly claiming that it bears all the economic burden of the fee (ie. it doesn’t pass on the fee to users). Spotify currently charges $13 to sign up in iOS and $10 to sign up on the web. This is strong evidence that Spotify is currently passing through the fee to users. It seems much more likely that Spotify would give iOS use…

Especially when Apple Music is $10 per month, Spotify needs to more or less match that price. The problem is if Apple takes 30% and Spotify pays out 70% (old info, maybe this has changed) to labels, Spotify is left with $0. It drops to 15% after the first year, but that's still not good compared to the 3% major credit card processors charge.

Re: Apple Terminates Epic Games' Developer Account

#397

Post by munificent »

mhh__ wrote: post #344
fjdjsmsm wrote: post #239

Earlier quoted context omitted.

They could just charge a single upfront amount of money.

Sure but will that fly on today's app store? Anecdotally, I think a single purchase can also eliminate a feedback mechanism from the players to the designers, in some scenarios.

Seems to work OK for Minecraft. There is DLC for mods and texture packs and other clearly auxiliary stuff, but you get the whole game when you buy it.

Re: Apple Terminates Epic Games' Developer Account

#398

Post by floatingatoll »

delhanty wrote: post #334
dang wrote: post #463

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This is a stub comment to collect the replies so we can collapse them, to prevent offtopicness. Sorry, no-JS users.

Unfortunately, supporting a brand as team sports is a thing like supporting a political party as team sports is. HN is, hopefully, better than most places on the internet as there are lots of people willing to decide each issue on its merits, and also recalibrate their positions continually in the light of events,

HN is not better in that way, or else the comment you’re replying to wouldn’t have needed to posted. HN users often bring preexisting and inflexible views to new discussions, on topics such as GateKeeper, GPL licensing, and ‘freedoms’. Unpopular positions on such topics are frequently unwelcome in discussions, even when presented with good reasoning and respectful tone. HN users often use downvotes to hide content they disagree with, rather than to hide content of low quality alone. HN users often use conversational warfare and personal attacks to diminish the views of others. We have more than earned this chastisement by the mods over the past few months.

Re: Apple Terminates Epic Games' Developer Account

#399

Post by hamandcheese »

parineum wrote: post #305
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.

I don't get this argument. The walled garden is something users opt into because it has benefits.

iPhone user here. I did not opt into a walled garden for the benefits. I am in this walled garden because I happened to buy an iPhone 10 yeas ago and now I'm locked in.

Re: Apple Terminates Epic Games' Developer Account

#400

Post by m3kw9 »

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…

Love that move. EPIC is no nice guy in this fight. They put it as if they want to benefit users, but is still bottom line they are after. You wanted a fight why are you ticked off the other guy start throwing hay makers?
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