The Coalition for App Fairness (CAF) released a statement on Thursday cheering on the Department of Justice’s antitrust lawsuit against Apple.
The group includes a number of key app makers, including Epic Games, Spotify, Deezer, Match Group, Proton and others.
In 2020, Epic made it possible for Fortnite players to pay Epic directly, rather than giving a cut to Apple.
Then, Apple removed Epic from the App Store, which sparked a slew of legal proceedings.
In a statement, Apple said: “This lawsuit threatens who we are and the principles that set Apple products apart in fiercely competitive markets.
Meanwhile, Fortnite maker Epic Games has been accusing Apple’s iOS App Store of antitrust violations for years in an ongoing, arduous legal battle.
“Apple often enforces its App Store rules arbitrarily,” the suit says.
And unlike Android devices, iPhones do not allow for sideloading apps, meaning that Apple has control over any app in its App Store.
“While Apple has reduced the tax it collects from a subset of developers, Apple still extracts 30 percent from many app makers,” the suit says.
On Thursday, the Coalition for App Fairness (CAF) – which includes Epic Games, Spotify, Deezer, Proton and other companies – released a statement in favor of the DOJ’s action against Apple.
After terminating Epic Games’ developer account on Wednesday, Apple said it will reinstate the Fortnite maker’s access to publish iOS apps in Europe.
This means that Epic can move forward with its plans for an Epic Games Store, and it can bring Fortnite back to iOS in Europe.
Last month, Epic announced it would be able to bring Fortnite and the Epic Games Store back because of Europe’s Digital Markets Act (DMA).
“We are moving forward as planned to launch the Epic Games Store and bring Fortnite back to iOS in Europe.
But under the new DMA law, third-party marketplaces like the Epic Games Store can come to iOS, lessening Apple’s control over apps in Europe.
The European Union has confirmed it’s looking into Apple’s decision to close Epic Games’ developer account — citing three separate regulations which may apply.
Yesterday the Fortnite maker revealed Apple had terminated the account, apparently reversing a decision to approve the developer account last month.
Epic had planned to launch its own app store, the Epic Games Stores, on iOS in Europe, as well as relaunching Fortnight on Apple’s platform.
And it accused Apple of breaching the bloc’s Digital Markets Act (DMA) by killing its developer account.
The US court ruling Apple is citing to justify terminating Epic’s developer account is unlikely to have standing in the EU.
The Apple-Epic saga has just taken a new turn today as the Fortnite game developer, Epic Games, shared that Apple has terminated its developer account.
It was after agreeing to abide by its rules that Apple’s lawyers sent a letter terminating its Epic Games Sweden AB account.
Epic claims the tech giant is retaliating against it for speaking out, as a letter penned by Apple exec Phil Schiller indicates.
“You also testified that Epic deliberately violated Apple’s rules, to make a point and for financial gain.
It noted, too, that its company has contractual relationships with Apple going back to 2010 for Epic’s Games, Unreal Engine, and other creator tools and Apple itself has been a public supporter of Epic’s Unreal Engine.
Everyone profits together.”In other words, Apple’s App Store was originally seen as a platform that could help the tech giant sell more iPhones, as having easy access to popular apps, like Facebook — an early App Store partner — would be a plus for consumers.
Though it made some concessions for small business developers and others, it sees no model for the App Store that doesn’t involve a commission structure.
Apple's bitter griping simply describes their historic, pre-monopoly relationship with app makers: the device provides great APIs, and apps provide great features to attract users.
In America, the issue is coming before the District Court in Epic v Apple as Epic challenges Apple’s malicious compliance with the court’s anti-steering injunction.
Sweeney also retweeted Spotify CEO Daniel Ek’s video message about the fine and his concerns that Apple will find a way to avoid full compliance.
Apple’s new DMA rules have been widely criticized by developers and tech companies including also Meta, Mozilla, and Microsoft.
In the new letter, 34 companies and associations across a variety of sectors are asking the E.C.
Plus, because of the new fee structure, and the Core Technology Fee, it’s clear that few will agree to the DMA terms, the companies said.
Apple, meanwhile, also published a whitepaper today that outlines its solutions to address the changes the DMA requires to commissions and payments.
In response to the companies’ letter, an EC spokesperson told TechCrunch that the six-month deadline for Big Tech gatekeepers, like Apple, was there for a reason.
Four years after leaving iOS, Fortnite is coming back — but only European players will be dropping in this time.
The endless beef between Epic Games and Apple over the company’s App Store fees took its most recent surprise turn on Thursday when the iPhone maker announced changes coming to iOS in the EU.
The plan to offer Fortnite for iOS dovetails with Epic’s news that it will launch a version of the Epic Games Store on the platform in the EU.
Beyond developing Fortnite and the Unreal Engine, Epic also runs the Epic Game Store, a digital storefront for PC games that’s also available on Macs.
That vision is increasingly coming into focus on Fortnite, which has evolved from being a few third-person shooter game modes into a full-fledged Roblox-like portal for digital games.
We’ve covered Lego Fortnite since it launched last month, when the new title lured in 2.4 million simultaneous players.
A little over a month after its launch, Lego Fortnite’s content was beginning to run dry for players who dove in headlong in December (present company included).
More on our latest update here: https://t.co/p28TYzZD49 pic.twitter.com/fzquiEGRVj — LEGO Fortnite (@LEGOFortnite) January 23, 2024Building-oriented players also get some tweaks to make things go more smoothly.
Some of those experienced are made by Epic itself, like Lego Fortnite, but most are “user-made” with Epic’s beefy game development toolkit.
So far, Lego Fortnite is Fortnite’s most compelling alternative offering — and a game that’s likely to build more momentum as the updates keep rolling in.
Anyone mad enough to launch a new product already knows the stats surrounding product failure.
There are ways companies can better understand their customers’ pain points to develop the right products that solve the right problems at the right time.
Make sure you’re solving the right problemThere are ways companies can better understand their customers’ pain points to develop the right products that solve the right problems at the right time.
Regarding product design and development, solving the right problem might seem obvious.
You build a product or solution to solve that problem, but it doesn’t work out as planned.
