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Apple Will Not Reinstate Epic’s Fortnite Developer Account

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Re: Apple Will Not Reinstate Epic’s Fortnite Developer Account

#241

Post by CharlesW »

Program_Install wrote: post #201

I am sick of Epic honestly, these companies always feeling entitled to someone else's work. With this fake "level playing field" nonsense. No one is forcing you to use iOS as your delivery platform. Epic is extremely disingenuous in this case, if they don't like it they have all the resources to create their own mobile device and platform.

A surprising number of people who think of themselves as capitalists believe the means of production, distribution, and exchange should be owned or regulated by the community as a whole.

Re: Apple Will Not Reinstate Epic’s Fortnite Developer Account

#242

Post by mattzito »

boomboomsubban wrote: post #93
mattzito wrote: post #67

Earlier quoted context omitted.

But Epic then promptly turned around and appealed. Why should Apple let epic back in when they’re saying they will “play by the rules” in one breath and saying “we don’t accept the courts ruling on the rules” in another?

Appealing a court decision still counts as "playing by the rules." Disagreeing about what the rules should be shouldn't count as a violation of the rules by itself.

Disagreeing about the rules is not a violation of those rules, I agree. But it is a statement of intent that you plan to not follow the rules if you win your court case, which means...you won't be playing by the rules. Seems perfectly reasonable to me that Apple wouldn't want to give Epic access to their user base back while Epic is trying to reverse the decision.

Now, if Epic was not appealing, and Apple refused to let them back in, I would agree that is egregious.

Re: Apple Will Not Reinstate Epic’s Fortnite Developer Account

#243

Post by [deleted] »

EvRev wrote: post #210
fishywang wrote: post #204

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Why does that matter? What does "meaningful ways" even mean? And "meaningful ways" according to who, the user or Apple?

Think about what is important to the demographic that is playing Fortnite, is playing the game more important or is having an Apple device? There are kids that are in elementary school that wear Fortnite clothing. The brand is everywhere. I am sure some actuary did the math on it so that Apple will come ahead, but the optics on something like this will sway brand loyalty for years in this demographic.

[deleted]

Re: Apple Will Not Reinstate Epic’s Fortnite Developer Account

#244

Post by dimitrios1 »

kerng wrote: post #240
cortesoft wrote: post #222

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I don't necessarily agree with Apple here, but couldn't your same arguments be made against Epic? They want to "stick it" to Apple and are harming their customers in the mean time? What this comes down to is an argument over money, and what percentage apple should get of that money. I don't think either company has a moral high ground in their negotiations on what percentage apple deserves.

Epic is the customer here also and they want to be able to provide a convenient and cheaper way for their customers. Their asks are not only reasonable, they are consumer friendly. Apple is just being a bully.

Imagine you want to sell a valuable, consumer friendly product that is cheaper than some alternatives and will save people money, but in this case, in a brick and mortar store.

The brick and mortar store says "we agree to stock your product, and will take 30% off the top for our troubles."

Would we be saying the same things? It's the same dynamic, in my view.

Re: Apple Will Not Reinstate Epic’s Fortnite Developer Account

#245

Post by criddell »

2OEH8eoCRo0 wrote: post #149
HatchedLake721 wrote: post #104

That makes sense. Why would you do business ever again with someone who intentionally breached a contract, publicly smeared you with a calculated negative PR campaign and then sued you? After all this you offer them to allow Fortnite back if they reverse what they've done that breached the contract. Instead, they: - Reject the offer - Carry on smearing you - Lose the court case - Sweeney says they wouldn’t release iO…

It's complicated. Right now Apple makes $0 from Fortnite, if they allow them back they will at least get something. Don't let emotions get in the way of business- there is still money to be made. This feels petty on Apple's part unless they are using this to send a message to anyone else who wants to sue them.

The landscape is changing so fast that Apple probably will lose control of their app store in the not too distant future.

Despite still being twice as large as iOS, the Android ecosystem isn't doing very well. If Apple isn't a monopolist today and trends continue, it's only a matter of time before it unquestionably is. At that point they aren't going to be able to dictate terms any longer.

Re: Apple Will Not Reinstate Epic’s Fortnite Developer Account

#246

Post by kllrnohj »

mattcantstop wrote: post #193

I understand Apple's decision to do this. They want to stick it to Epic. Completely understandable desire on Apple's part. But, sadly, Apple is letting their desire to get vengeance outweigh the interests of their users in having all the games they want to play on their devices. I have been realizing lately that my loyalty to Apple has been waning over the years after having invested heavily in the ecosystem. This is…

> But, sadly, Apple is letting their desire to get vengeance outweigh the interests of their users

Of course they are, that's Apple's standard business relationship practice. See also why Mac's still don't have an Nvidia GPU option, because Apple & Nvidia got in some spat a decade ago and Apple has been holding a grudge ever since.

The more Apple brings stuff in-house the less this matters to the bottom line, but it shouldn't be surprising. Unless not having Fortnite begins to seriously impact iPhone & iPad sales, Apple isn't going to care regardless of whether or not it's hurting their customers.

Re: Apple Will Not Reinstate Epic’s Fortnite Developer Account

#247

Post by AltruisticGapHN »

mattcantstop wrote: post #193

I understand Apple's decision to do this. They want to stick it to Epic. Completely understandable desire on Apple's part. But, sadly, Apple is letting their desire to get vengeance outweigh the interests of their users in having all the games they want to play on their devices. I have been realizing lately that my loyalty to Apple has been waning over the years after having invested heavily in the ecosystem. This is…

It's literally just one game? Fortnite? Which is really a cash cow at this point. Epic couldn't care less about you, or smaller developers. Which is what is most disingenuous on their part, to pretend like they're the "small guy".

Re: Apple Will Not Reinstate Epic’s Fortnite Developer Account

#249

Post by ttmb »

dimitrios1 wrote: post #244
kerng wrote: post #240

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Epic is the customer here also and they want to be able to provide a convenient and cheaper way for their customers. Their asks are not only reasonable, they are consumer friendly. Apple is just being a bully.

Imagine you want to sell a valuable, consumer friendly product that is cheaper than some alternatives and will save people money, but in this case, in a brick and mortar store. The brick and mortar store says "we agree to stock your product, and will take 30% off the top for our troubles." Would we be saying the same things? It's the same dynamic, in my view.

And then the brick and mortar store says "oh and also we want 30% of anything the customer purchases through your product for ever" -

Yes, yes I do think we would be saying the same things.

Re: Apple Will Not Reinstate Epic’s Fortnite Developer Account

#250

Post by withinboredom »

cptskippy wrote: post #205
chrisfinazzo wrote: post #192

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Not to put too fine a point on it, but for all practical purposes Apple can't boot Facebook or Google from the App Store, regardless of what they do. Tim Cook's head would end up on the chopping block if several billion users suddently left iOS because FB, Instagram and the rest weren't available. With Google, the userbase is potentially even bigger and some of what they do really is fundamental to most people's expe…

> The same might be true of Fortnite It would seem that Fortnite's demographic is preteen kids. Are they playing Fortnite on their parent's device or one they own? If it's the later then Apple could be fostering a lifelong mistrust or dislike for their platform. If it's the former then Parents might just install another App for them and that's the end of Fortnite. I guess it comes down to how many people are willing…

I think many of them (including me) were waiting for this to play out. I can remember walking into a cell phone store years and years ago to look around. I remember overhearing this:

Kid: I really like this phone.

Dad: That’s a Windows Phone, you don’t want that. It doesn’t have that many apps. You want an Android because you get all the apps out there.

I can see a similar argument for Android vs. Apple now. “Get Android, you’ll get all the apps. With Apple, you only get Apple approved apps, which includes malware, but not that game you like to play, what’s it called? Fortnight?”

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