There's two sides to this actually.

I, as a customer, don't want to pay many companies directly. The prime example is any news publication. There are many I'd happily pay for except (like gym memberships it seems) it can be incredibly difficult to cancel. I won't reward that model so they get none of my money.

I think more specifically, as a customer, I don't want to be locked into bad subscriptions, whether it's gym memberships or news publications.

I'm fine paying companies directly, but I don't want them to manage my subscriptions

That is why I use Paypal. As a customer, why should I be constrained to use Apple's payment system as my only choice of middle-man?

Exactly. And as a user too, I don't want Apple to have access to any of my financial transactions!

Why not? Not that I think it's an unreasonable position, but there's generally going to be some payment processor who knows who your paying customers are, right?

Apple is also in the software business. Payment processors aren't. They're a potential competitor with the power to build their own version of your offering after seeing your numbers, and lock you out of the store.

Stop using apple then? Why do you need government to tell apple how to run their company? All these seems really absurd and incompetent coming from Epic.