A couple of weeks ago I was calling for the federal government to leave Apple and the other big tech companies alone.
But in hindsight I may have been wrong. Perhaps, the government was right to be suspicious of Apple and to question how much power their proprietary App Store lets them wield. Because if Apple controls who can and cannot get into their App Store then they control who can and cannot be in business. Which is admittedly unfair.
Fortnite, the popular video game, has decided to fight back by creating their own in app payment system that undercuts the App Store, preventing Apple from getting its normal 30% commission. Now this isn’t a power play by Fortnite’s ownership, Epic Games, since Epic claims that their own in app payment system will let them lower the cost of buying 1,000 V-Bucks (in game currency) from $9.99 to $7.99, thereby passing on the savings directly to end users. However, Apple doesn’t see it that way. So in response they temporarily kicked Fortnite out of the App Store. Epic in response then filed a lawsuit and released an epic hype video where they basically declared war on Apple:
And personally I think they have a point. The walled garden that Apple wants to cultivate really is too restrictive. Perhaps there is a better way. And maybe an all out war between Apple and Epic is the only way to get there.
The Verge sums up the simmering feud best:
“The decision marks a significant escalation in the feud between Epic and one of the world’s most dominant mobile software marketplaces. It also comes at an especially fraught time for Apple as the iPhone maker navigates antitrust concerns over its operation of the App Store and the rules it imposes on certain developers.
Following the removal, Epic revealed a carefully calculated series of responses, including an antitrust lawsuit seeking to establish Apple’s App Store as a monopoly and a protest video that aired on YouTube and within Fortnite itself mocking the iPhone maker’s iconic ‘1984’ ad and calling on gaming fans to #FreeFortnite by supporting its fight against Apple.”
So, what do you think? Whose side are you taking? Should we #FreeFortnite? Or let Apple reign supreme?
Which side are you on?
Leave a comment