Let's assume a very generous 5% for payment costs (credit cards are capped at 0.3% in the EU, but US cards with their rewards can run up to 5% in merchant fees, and god knows about the cost of doing business in other markets), another very generous 5% for CDN/hosting (data traffic isn't cheap, modern games easily run into triple digit GB sizes, and gamers are notorious for bringing down even the largest CDNs on delivery dates), and another 5% for profit and other costs (development), and you end up at something like 15%.
Anything above that is ripping people off.
Because my question was less about "how things should ideally be", and more about "how much legal scrutiny can this legal case withstand".
That is entirely a question of jurisdiction. The US is famous for its deregulation, usury only covers loan interest rates - whereas in Germany the limit in §138 BGB is something that is "obviously not in a fair relationship between the payment and the value received for it", plus our whole anti-trust regulation.
The German Bundeskartellamt is already prosecuting the big tech companies, the EU anti-trust agencies also have woken up from their slumber... we will see.
Americans so much love freedom for companies to fleece them off.
Yeah, but when the CC reward gets cancelled the store still will charge the old prices.
> rising prices benefit retail workers at the expense of those living off savings and investments
That assumes that retail will distribute extra profits to its employees... which many aren't known for, Walmart and McDonald's are infamous for paying such poor wages that its employees are entitled to food stamps ffs (https://www.cnbc.com/2020/11/19/walmart-and-mcdonalds-among-...).
Maybe, just maybe, the situation will change a bit now that corona has entirely uprooted labor markets, but even then it's a smoke debate - 15$/h is the lowest of the low, even adjusting for inflation would lead to a higher minimum wage!
Adjusting the 1938 original minimum wage for inflation (cumulatively, 1794%) would lead to a 2021 minimum wage of $4.73/hr.
Adjusting the 1945 minimum wage for inflation (cumulatively, 1383.6%) would lead to a 2021 minimum wage of $5.93/hr.
Adjusting the 1950 minimum wage for inflation (cumulatively, 1008.1%) would lead to a 2021 minimum wage of $8.31/hr.
Adjusting the 1965 minimum wage for inflation (cumulatively, 747.8%) would lead to a 2021 minimum wage of $10.60/hr.
Adjusting the 1975 minimum wage for inflation (cumulatively, 396.4%) would lead to a 2021 minimum wage of $10.42/hr.
Adjusting the 1980 minimum wage for inflation (cumulatively, 224.1%) would lead to a 2021 minimum wage of $10.05/hr.
Adjusting the 1990 minimum wage for inflation (cumulatively, 104.3%) would lead to a 2021 minimum wage of $7.76/hr.
Adjusting the 1997 minimum wage for inflation (cumulatively, 66.4%) would lead to a 2021 minimum wage of $8.57/hr.
Adjusting the 2008 minimum wage for inflation (cumulatively, 24.0%) would lead to a 2021 minimum wage of $8.12/hr.
It appears that inflation of the dollar has not happened at quite the same pace as inflation of socialist demands. *shrug*
Looks like currently it is 30% for games, 15% for apps and app subscriptions, and they were exploring reducing the game-related cuts down to 12%. Microsoft spokesperson's reply to those leaked documents was "we have no plans to change the revenue share for console games at this time".
Though I am not sure how much the 15% (microsoft cut for app-related purchases) vs. 30% (apple's cut, or 15% if the devs haven't made over $1 million in revenue this year or the year before) difference matters here, because I am struggling to figure out how the 15% vs. 30% difference makes one a monopoly. If that's the argument, then what's the magic number threshold that makes you a monopoly after you cross it? And how does Apple's reduced cut of 15% for devs with under $1mil in revenue play into that?
0. https://www.theverge.com/2021/5/2/22415712/microsoft-xbox-st...