This is what screams "publicity stunt" to me. Especially the 2-tier pricing in the iOS app, whereas on consoles everyone[1] got the 20% discount even though Epic is still paying Sony/Microsoft their 30% cut.

[1] https://www.epicgames.com/fortnite/en-US/news/the-fortnite-m...

I'm sure they do but the situation is a bit different. Its a bigger leap for the consoles to implement a third party store than Apple. They don't allow unsigned code on consumer devices and the cert process is even more entailed than Apple. There's no tooling or infrastructure to install third party apps onto the consoles outside of the first party store. Apple has a ready made developer flow that is artificially blocked through provisioning profiles and the like.

The counter argument (from the article). Emphasis mine.

>[smartphones are] not a console you play to entertain yourself, or even a PC for work: it is the foundation of modern life

IMHO, this is a perfectly valid argument.

To be clear, I have no idea how that could be legislated, nor do I necessarily think it should be. I'm only saying that it's easy to see why they aren't the same thing.

How big of a cut do they have to pay on closed hardware consoles?

30%, amazingly enough.

Do these take a 30% cut from online purchases as well?

Yes.

If I wanted a PS4 game I could go to gamestop or walmart and buy it. I can buy games used. As closed as consoles are there's much more choice in where you get your software than iOS devices.

Regardless of where you buy it, Sony takes a cut--unless you buy used.

And IAP, which is the subject under discussion, is 100% through Sony, and Sony still gets 30%.