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Fortnite maker sues Apple after removal of game from App Store:
Apple Inc on Thursday removed popular video game "Fortnite" from its App Store for violating the company's in-app payment guidelines, prompting developer Epic Games to file a federal lawsuit challenging the iPhone maker's rules.
Apple cited a direct payment feature rolled out on the Fortnite app earlier on Thursday as the violation.
Epic sued in U.S. court seeking no money from Apple but rather an injunction that would end many of the company's practices related to the App Store, which is the only way to distribute native software onto most iPhones.
[...] Apple takes a cut of between 15% and 30% for most app subscriptions and payments made inside apps, though there are some exceptions for companies that already have a credit card on file for iPhone customers if they also offer an in-app payment that would benefit Apple. Analysts believe games are the biggest contributor to spending inside the App Store, which is in turn the largest component of Apple's $46.3 billion-per-year services segment.
In a statement, Apple said Fortnite had been removed because Epic had launched the payment feature with the "express intent of violating the App Store guidelines" after having had apps in the store for a decade.
"The fact that their (Epic) business interests now lead them to push for a special arrangement does not change the fact that these guidelines create a level playing field for all developers and make the store safe for all users," Apple said in a statement.
[...] Epic's lawsuit, however, argues that app distribution and in-app payments for Apple devices constitute their own distinct market for anti-competition purposes because Apple users rarely leave its "sticky" ecosystem, according to Epic's filing.
[...] Google also removed "Fortnite" from its Play Store.
"However, we welcome the opportunity to continue our discussions with Epic and bring Fortnite back to Google Play," Google spokesman Dan Jackson said in a statement. Jackson said Epic had violated a rule requiring developers to use Google's in-app billing system for products within video games.
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(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Friday August 14 2020, @08:21PM (5 children)
From something you said in another post in this very thread.
Try following your own advice sometime. At no point did I defend Google. I said that there is a critical distinction that makes Apple worse (and in my opinion significantly so). But at no point do I think of Google as a "non-evil" company nor defend them. That doesn't mean there are degrees of evil in the world.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Friday August 14 2020, @08:25PM
(meant "aren't" in last sentence.)
(Score: 2) by EvilSS on Friday August 14 2020, @09:24PM (3 children)
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday August 15 2020, @02:22PM (2 children)
I did, before I ever replied. Realize that sometimes people may actual have valid disagreements with you. It's possible.
Yes. Why? Briefly, because Apple's problem is systemic. They have set up a fascist system that has operated for more than a decade which oppresses ALL developers that want to interact with Apple products in a monopolistic fashion, exploiting them and their labor to add to their already insane profits.
Google's single action cited by you is certainly worse than any one act of oppression Apple has taken. That I agree with. Manipulating third parties in the way Google did here is certainly very wrong. And I know Google has certainly done this in other cases too.
But Apple's insidious approach creates a status quo that is evil. Both companies are very evil. But in comparing these specific acts, it's like comparing one act of extortion and bribery to another company that does shakedowns for protection money from every developer in the freakin' world.
Does sideloading apps excuse Google? Never said it did. But it at least allows an avenue around the protection racket, rather than the purely fascist and totalitarian regime one is forced into by buying an Apple product.
Never disagreed. And again, what Google did was very wrong. Never said it wasn't. They should be sued, and Google should lose. Why do you want to keep reminding me about something where I agree with you?
Which is a real shame and a blight on our legal system. As I pointed out in my first post in this thread (had you read it! ha! see what I did there!), Microsoft was successfully blamed in an antitrust action for doing something significantly less fascist. Which was my whole point here, that you seem intent on ignoring.
You want to believe Google is evil? Fine. I agree. But your posts on this story seem to come close to Whataboutism. Are you really just intent on attacking Google, or are you trying to defend Apple's fascism? Because I'm willing to attack both of these companies -- HARD. You seem to be trying to change the story, and it's troublesome.
(Score: 2) by EvilSS on Saturday August 15 2020, @07:31PM (1 child)
Got it, you're off your rocker. That explains everything comrade.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday August 23 2020, @02:03PM
Wow. Brainwashed much?
I could cite Slashdot stories from a decade ago (as SN didn’t exist yet) that say these exact same things about Apple’s AppStore and its fascist policies and lots of comments making this same criticism. It used to be a common criticism until everyone just got used to Apple’s monopolistic BS.
But now everyone must bow and prostrate themselves before Mother Apple. Anyone who disagrees is “off their rocker.” Got it.