> they can convince regulators they will self-regulate... while continuing to get a third of the revenue from all the most lucrative developers.
So what?
Seriously, who cares if Epic earns 14 bzillionty dollars this month, or 20 bzillionty dollars?
At that scale, the 30% is such a terrible thorn in your side?
Come on. Cry me a damn river.
The 'narrative' here is Epic pretending they care about anyone except themselves and that this ridiculous song and dance is about it being 'good for everyone'.
Let's try something positive instead:
What should they have done then to make you happy?
Seriously; if this is such a cynical, terrible move, what should they have done?
Provide an officially-sanctioned way to install alternative software sources.
macOS has that; Apple will even certify third party developers so that the system can still validate software outside of the Mac App Store. That kind of security model would be perfect for iOS and would moot pretty much all the substantive parts of Epic's complaint.
> Apple will even certify third party developers so that the system can still validate software outside of the Mac App Store. That kind of security model would be perfect for iOS and would moot pretty much all the substantive parts of Epic's complaint.
That's a really good point. Why isn't the dev community talking about getting Apple to do this on iOS?
It would allow sideloading while maintaining security, and a somewhat more fair amount of control from Apple.
Just because it is something YOU want doesn't mean we ALL want it. I appreciate Apple's review of apps and their store policies. While no human endeavor is perfect it is at least an attempt to keep their platform more secure, safer for kids, higher quality, and more trustworthy.
Opening up the platform to other app stores means they have less control over the experience on their platform it opens more avenues for malware.
Why are Apple users so quick to recommend me Android when I point out this particular flaw with iOS? And yes, I do consider distrusting the owner's software installation preferences to be a flaw, especially when Apple is certainly capable of maintaining a robust and safe third-party distribution ecosystem on macOS. The Mac isn't demonstrably less secure because you have a sanctioned way to install Steam onto it. Likewise, Apple doesn't lose the ability to maintain the quality of the Mac App Store because people might get their apps on Steam.
"Safer for kids" isn't a factor here; Apple already provides tools for parents to lock down their children's devices should that be necessary. This would also presumably have an option (or default) to disable third-party apps, in the same way parents can already disable specific App Store and built-in apps.
> less control over the experience on their platform
I value the customer's ability to install programs of their choosing on a phone they purchased. It seems strange that we see it as desirable to concentrate authority over billions of devices this way. Taking a step back, it's sort of a "what could possibly go wrong" scenario.
I have and use AltStore. It's amazing what they did, but it's certainly not Apple-sanctioned; they have to jump through a large amount of hoops in order to get your code signing certificate and then get iTunes to install the app for you. This also requires giving AltStore your iCloud password, among other things, and it resigns the app as yours. It technically works, but it doesn't work well.
> Seriously, who cares if Epic earns 14 bzillionty dollars this month, or 20 bzillionty dollars?
The narrative here is amazing, because you're not sympathizing with Epic because they're so big and have so much money... but they're still the little guy compared to Apple. The scale of Apple's monopoly profit makes Epic look like a corner pharmacy in Montana.
Epic is part of TenCent which is close to having a monopoly on games these days.
But separately, the only reason to root for ‘the little guy’ is if the little guy is somehow hard done by.
We dislike the fact that Apple makes some money by charging developers 30% for payment services, software delivery, and operating a storefront that users feel safe to buy from.
We say 30% is too much to change for that, because the margin is way too high. Fair enough.
Epic on the other hand makes its money from selling in game currency to children.
Epic has a 40% stake, and controls Epic’s access to the Chinese market. There may be other rights attached to their share.
Sweeney may technically still have the majority vote, but he can’t do anything they seriously oppose, or not do anything they are strongly in favor of without facing serious consequences.
This is entirely false. Because while Blizzard, the NBA, and every other "American" company was busy sucking up to China in the last year, Tim Sweeney blatantly stated players in his games should feel free to support Hong Kong.
Epic didn't bow to China like other American companies did. And Epic didn't even stay silent. Epic made a clear statement in opposition to China.
That should've put to bed any of this silly "it's controlled by China" nonsense. Tencent just likes having a good stake in a company that prints money.
You are correct that Epic Games made 5 billion dollars in revenue in 2019, according to Venturebeat [1]. However, Apple Insider reports that Apple made 59.7 billion dollars in revenue in their third fiscal quarter (March, April, and May) of 2020 [2].
Epic's definitely not a little guy, but compared to Apple, it looks more like a respectable medium-sized company.
I find Apple's revenue numbers and market value truly staggering. Few companies seem to be able to compare.
And Epic isn't asking for a benefit for themselves: They're using those billions to fight for not just themselves, but thousands of smaller developers. Over two hundred of them joined Epic's little "app dev union" of sorts recently.
Yes, Apple sells one of the most successful products in human history... and they also illegally use that power to control the market and extract revenue from thousands of other companies who have no choice but to do business with them.
“ And Epic isn't asking for a benefit for themselves”
False: Epic wants to pay less commission themselves, and to be able to take a cut of other developers work.
One big difference between Apple and Epic is that Epic didn’t do any work to create the platform.
As to those smaller developers. Apple just cut the commission for them in half. A lower level than Epic was promising. Apple seems to care about the smaller developers.
Epic is not fighting for anyone but themselves.
Let’s note that more than half of Epic’s profits belong to just one man.
I think Amazon, Microsoft, Facebook, and Google would also be considered iOS developers, since they publish apps on the App Store. So in terms of market value, Epic is definitely not the biggest player in the Apple ecosystem.
Although, if we're going by how popular the apps are on the store...I could see how Epic would be considered a heavyweight on the App Store.
So what?
Seriously, who cares if Epic earns 14 bzillionty dollars this month, or 20 bzillionty dollars?
At that scale, the 30% is such a terrible thorn in your side?
Come on. Cry me a damn river.
The 'narrative' here is Epic pretending they care about anyone except themselves and that this ridiculous song and dance is about it being 'good for everyone'.
Let's try something positive instead:
What should they have done then to make you happy?
Seriously; if this is such a cynical, terrible move, what should they have done?