Stories
Slash Boxes
Comments

SoylentNews is people

posted by Fnord666 on Friday August 14 2020, @02:19PM   Printer-friendly
from the breaking-the-rules dept.

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.

Recently:
(2020-07-22) Microsoft Tells Congress That iOS App Store is Anticompetitive
(2020-06-24) Apple Gives Thumbs Up to Hey Email App After Update Rejection
(2020-06-17) EU Launches Two Antitrust Investigations Into Apple Business Practices
(2020-03-07) Apple's New App Store Policies Fight Spam and Abuse but Also Allow Ads in Notifications


Original Submission

 
This discussion has been archived. No new comments can be posted.
Display Options Threshold/Breakthrough Mark All as Read Mark All as Unread
The Fine Print: The following comments are owned by whoever posted them. We are not responsible for them in any way.
  • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday August 15 2020, @12:53PM

    by Anonymous Coward on Saturday August 15 2020, @12:53PM (#1037052)

    But Epics tactics only worked because Google and Apple are a duopoly, acting as expected abusing their position. Epic has just delivered a big blow on an ongoing campaign against the "Store" monopolies. This thing has been going on for months, I think it started with some social media app thing (I don't own a smartphone or use social media, so excuse my vagueness).

    Apples practice with first iTunes now App Store has always been illegal and anticompetitive in the EU. They might avoid paying taxes, but this one they'll lose. Look Microsoft got a slap on the wrist because they had a pre-installed browser. They forced Microsoft to share protocol info with the Samba project. If this doesn't turn out opening up atleast Apples platform (Googles is more open, so they might go free), there is certainly some corruption going on that would explain why nothing has been done about the issue for the last decade or more.