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Don’t show that anymore
Fornite players get a reduction if they pay Epic directly on cellular versions.
Epic’s demand alleges that Apple has become a “market-seeking monster, blocks festivals and suppresses innovation.”
“Apple is bigger, more powerful, more ingrained and more pernicious than the monopolies of yesteryear,” Epic says in demand. “Apple’s duration and success far outweigh those of any technology monopoly in history.”
Epic’s lawsuit opposing Google is under attacking the company for abandoning its “don’t be bad” slogan. “In 1998, Google was founded as a new company with an exclusive motto: “Don’t be evil,” it reads in the opening of demand.” Twenty-two years later, Google has relegated its currency almost after the fact, and is using its length to damage its competitors, innovators, consumers and users in a multitude of markets that has become a monopoly.”
Early Thursday, Apple said it chose to remove Fortnite from its App Store because the game violated the guidelines. Apple says it applies the same way to all developers and is designed to keep the store safe.
“As a result, your Fortnite app has been removed from the store,” Apple said in a statement, adding that it will work with Epic on the subject. “Epic has activated a feature of its app that has not been reviewed or approved through Apple, and they did so with the explicit goal of violating app store rules related to invoices through the app that apply to each and every developer selling virtual goods. or services.”
Google also cited Epic’s failure to comply with regulations as an explanation of why Fortnite got rid of its virtual marketplace. Consumers can still download the game on Android phones in other app stores, such as Galaxy Store for Samsung devices.
“While Fortnite is still available on Android, we can no longer do so on Play because it violates our policies,” a Google spokesman said. “However, we looked forward to continue our discussions with Epic and bring Fortnite back to Google Play.”
Google’s resolve to ban Fortnite from its Play Store is likely to result in an already intense antitrust review of the search giant. Google’s Android working formula is the world’s most popular mobile phone software, and uses approximately nine out of 10 smartphones shipped worldwide. The company has been accused of this domain to force its partners to integrate Google apps, such as search and maps, into their offerings.
The search giant offers developers in the Play Store terms similar to Apple’s, but Google has largely moved away from the spotlights when it comes to app manufacturer reviews. Fortnite’s ban on Thursday puts Google in the middle of a high-profile battle.
Epic’s new direct microtransactions that forget about Apple rates still seem to be available to anyone who has already downloaded Fortnite to their device.
The demand for Epic opposite Apple marks a dramatic escalation in the debate between the two corporations and, through the extension, between Apple and a developing organization of developers who disagree with the App Store.
Apple says it has created rules for developers to protect users and make an equivalent remedy for developers, who have so far created more than 1.7 million apps for their iPhones and iPads. Meanwhile, individual companies and programmers say Apple is too restrictive and charges too much commission for sales made through apps.
Over the next year, lawmakers and regulators began joining developers in this debate, leading Apple to justify its commission of up to 30% and strict on its platform.
Apple responded by submitting a commissioned exam that found that its payments are to those of its peers, with the notable exception of Epic, which charges a 12% payment for its game store.
“Apple’s commissions are comparable or lower than commissions charged through most of our competitors,” Apple’s CHIEF executive Tim Cook said at a Congressional hearing in July. “And they’re well below 50% to 70% that software developers paid to distribute their paintings before the App Store launched.”
The company has been criticized for its fees and has led music giant Spotify and other companies to register court cases with the European Union Competition Commission. In June, the EU introduced two investigations on Apple, focusing on its App Store and its control of the generation behind its Apple Pay payment service.
“It seems that Apple has been given a role of “guardian” in distributing programs and content to users of popular Apple devices,” EU Competition Commissioner Margrethe Vestager said at one point. “We want to make sure that Apple’s regulations don’t distort festivals in markets where Apple competes with other app developers, for example, with its Apple Music streaming service or Apple Books.”
Cook rejected one’s considerations in his July before the United States Congress.
“After starting with 500 apps, the App Store now hosts more than 1.7 million apps, of which only 60 are Apple software,” Cook said. “Obviously, if Apple is a keeper, what you do is open the door more. We need to get as many apps as we can in the store, not save them.”
For now, iOS users who have already downloaded Fortnite to their device still seem to use the app in its entirety, adding the new in-game grocery shopping approach.
Epic preceded its audience with Apple with a series of high-profile moves.
The company’s first step is to offer a reduction for its successful Fortnite Battle Royale game, which brings together a hundred other people on a simulated island through a cartoon game. There, they fight until the last player is in state (and so wins the game). Fortnite’s design had a big impact; The game is simple to perceive but difficult to master. Its fun and colorful, loose blood images that are typical of the ultimate combat games, made it more suitable for families and tweens. And it’s loose to download, with the only “V-Bucks” rates, the game chips that players can use to buy other cosmetic looks for the characters.
On Thursday, Epic announced discounts of up to 20% frequently if players purchased V-Bucks directly from Epic. But he chose to keep the charges where they were if players bought through Apple’s or Google’s payment system. As a result, 1000 V-Bucks will charge you $9.99 if you pass through Apple’s or Google’s system, but only $7.99 directly from Epic.
“Currently, when Apple and Google payment options, Apple and Google charge a 30% fee, and the value drop of up to 20% doesn’t apply,” Epic wrote in a blog post the previous Thursday. “If Apple or Google lowers your payout fees in the future, Epic will give you the benefits.”
Soon after, Apple got rid of its store’s Epic app, prompting epic demand. Epic also posted an online video mimicking Apple’s well-known 1984 Macintosh ad, this time accusing Apple of being the hero’s villain.
The video ended with a recommended hashtag, #FreeFortnite, which has become the world’s most popular element on Twitter within an hour of its publication. In the United States, Apple ranks on the list of the highest trends, with Epic in fifth place.
This is not the first time Epic has started a public match with one of his peers. In 2018, Epic introduced Fortnite for Android asking others to download the game directly from its site, rather than through Google’s Play Store. The company showed CNET that it would have done the same on iOS if it could.
The game arrived on the Play Store in April, Epic criticized Google’s efforts to warn Android users about the alleged threats posed through the direct download of Fortnite.
Spotify, which presented the EU investigation into Apple, applauded Epic’s lawsuit against Apple.
“Apple’s unfair practices have put competition at a disadvantage and consumers at a disadvantage for too long,” a Spotify spokesman said in a statement. “What’s at stake for consumers and app developers, both large and small, may simply not be superior and making sure the iOS platform works competitively is an urgent task with far-reaching implications.
Epic also chose other public fights. In 2018, he faced Valve, a popular game author and developer of the online game store Steam, when he introduced his competitor Epic Games Store for PC. The company promised relief in commissions for developers and began paying exclusive rights to popular games such as Metro: Exodus and Borderlands 3.
“Many of those disorders are spaces where they’re not going to satisfy everyone,” Epic CEO Tim Sweeney said in an interview in 2019. “The Epic Game Store exclusives have been debatable among the network of PC games that prefers everything to be on Steam, however, this is by far the most effective technique to ensure the good luck of a new store.”
Ry Crist, Joan E. Solsman and Sean Keane of CNET contributed to this report.
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