If you haven’t been keeping on top of tech news recently, you may not realise the current dispute occurring over both Apple’s and Google’s application marketplaces, namely coming from game developer Epic Games. The developer is behind one of the world’s largest titles of Fortnite, but it hasn’t been available on either the iOS App Store or the Google Play store for the last few weeks, separating many players from their friends.
The reason for the removal? Epic Games had added a separate payment method for their in-game currency of V-Bucks in order to skirt the default payment methods put in place that see both Apple and Google take a 30% cut of any payment. The dispute is that this is against the terms of service for both marketplaces, and as such the game had been removed. There has been a lot of movement with the case over the past few weeks with Epic stating Apple are being anti-competitive with this stance, Google trying to distance itself from the preceding’s, and a victory for Epic as it won its plea to not have its developer access revoked from the iOS marketplace – but the latest jab comes from Apple.
(Image from arstechnica.com)
Apple will now be seeking damages against Epic Games, stating that by bypassing the default payment method and undercutting the Apple pricing, Epic Games has effectively resorted to “theft”. A statement by Apple reads “Although Epic portrays itself as a modern corporate Robin Hood, in reality it is a multi-billion-dollar enterprise that simple wants to pay nothing for the tremendous value it derives from the App Store.” Apple had previously noted that a large part of the Fortnite and Epic Games success had been the exposure possible from the iOS App Store and how the game had been able to be distributed throughout the Apple network.
If Epic are able to win this battle, however, it could open up some interesting possibilities for the different app marketplaces – one of the more popular gaming genres for mobile users can be found in online casinos which are typically restricted to different browser sites rather than being represented on the marketplaces – without the exposure and the restrictions placed on many by different initiatives such as Gamstop, many services such as those here at Max Casinoshave really been able to grow as surges of new players constantly join – part of the reason for the exclusion may be the 30% cut that is taken and the removal of this tariff could see many operators developing their own applications.
On the other hand, if Apple win it could be bad for other developers – maybe new restrictions or pricing points will be put in place to prevent anything similar from happening again, and the confidence to do so after winning a battle like this will be at an all-time high. We’re going to see some big changes coming through whatever outcome, and you may just see your own favourite mobile game disappear in the coming weeks or months depending on how things turn out.
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