Apple is holding the Unreal Engine hostage, Epic says in new motion

Re:Apple is holding the Unreal Engine hostage, Epic says in ... by mullingitover on Sunday August 23, 2020 @02:28PM (#24254073)

Sure, but let's be honest, their lawsuit probably doesn't have any chance of success. Apple's terms are the same as Playstation/Xbox/Nintendo and they're not crying about those platforms not allowing them to open up their own app store there. The courts are going to tell them the obvious, that you can't call a monopoly on your own products a true Monopoly for antitrust purposes.

I have a feeling their money on iOS is a rounding error compared to the serious gaming platforms, and this whole thing is basically a marketing activity that they calculated would pay off better than the revenues they'd lose from losing access to iOS/Mac.

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Re:Apple is holding the Unreal Engine hostage, Epic says in ... by an_opabinia on Sunday August 23, 2020 @02:31PM (#24254100)

Did you consider that Epic gets a deal from Playstation, Xbox and Nintendo?

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Re:Apple is holding the Unreal Engine hostage, Epic says in ... by Gwypaas on Sunday August 23, 2020 @02:38PM (#24254175)

I would call those platforms much more symbiotic in their existance.

Also considering if they win this much more clear cut case, then they or someone else would try to apply it to those markets.

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Re:Apple is holding the Unreal Engine hostage, Epic says in ... by mullingitover on Sunday August 23, 2020 @02:41PM (#24254195)

> Also considering if they win this much more clear cut case, then they or someone else would try to apply it to those markets.

The case is definitely clear cut, but not to Epic's advantage.

I have no love for Apple, but at the same time Epic doesn't have a leg to stand on here. This is two extremely wealthy parties fighting over a giant pile of money, and Epic is cynically trying to claim they're fighting for the consumer.

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Re:Apple is holding the Unreal Engine hostage, Epic says in ... by Gwypaas on Sunday August 23, 2020 @02:50PM (#24254278)

So reducing the commission from 30% to something more reasonable by having competing app stores would harm the consumer?

If the underlying structures wouldn't change it would be a smaller pile of cash more parties share. On the other hand, if it opens up for innovation the pile would grow allowing better products for all. Though I guess the innovation angle is hard to prove in court.

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Re:Apple is holding the Unreal Engine hostage, Epic says in ... by Aeronwen on Sunday August 23, 2020 @10:00PM (#24256939)

>So reducing the commission from 30% to something more reasonable by having competing app stores would harm the consumer?

Wait until Epic gets their app store entrenched and raises their prices for Fortnite content 30% because they know people are willing to pay that already, and no matter how much they raise the price, it's always the cheapest option.

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