Can Fortnite maker Epic Games hire Apple and Google? Experts venture in

Fortnite developer Epic Games seems to have a way of breaking the rules. In the face of FortniteThe success has finally changed companies’ policies – such as Sony, which abandoned its fight against cross-platform gaming in 2018 after Epic Games forced the issue, eventually leading to cross-play in other games, too.

FortniteThe size and popularity gave Epic Games the power to bend rules of Sony and Nintendo, but will the tactic work with the monoliths of Apple and Google? Now, the company in North Carolina is trying. On Thursday morning, Epic Games was updated Fortnite with a new payment processing option, offering a discounted price for players who choose to process payments through Epic, net Apple and Google. Epic thus embraced the 30% cut to Apple store fronts by giving players a 20% discount on V-Bucks, Fortniteis the currency in the game. In response, both Apple and Google were removed Fortnite of the App Store and the Google Play Store, respectively, with policy directions.

As it turns out, this is what Epic Games expected. And it had a plan. Moments after the game was removed from Apple’s store, Epic Games launched their #FreeFortnite campaign, complete with a hashtag, in-game propaganda video, en a few lawsuits. In those lawsuits, Epic Games claims that Google’s and Apple’s policies are anti-competitive and violate anti-trust laws. Ep Swedish CEO Tim Sweeney said on Twitter that is his business net seek special treatment; it wants Apple and Google to change their rules and really create “open platforms” to benefit “all developers”, not just Epic. “It’s going to be a whole fight!” Sweeney said.

Epic Games has gone up against big tech companies in the past, but its anti-trust legal action will be different. It seeks to change the policy of companies that solidify themselves as market leaders in the industry, and neither Apple nor Google want to let that go. This lawsuit has a much larger scope than any of the other challenges that Epic Games has to face, such as the Sony faceoff. In the same way, Epic Games is the ‘underdog’, if you can call it that. Although valued at more than $ 17 billion, this has been significantly flooded by the trillion-dollar market capitalization of Alphabet (Google’s parent company) and Apple.

“Epic goes to the heart of the App Store’s monopoly, as well as Google’s similar monopoly on Android app sales,” said Sandeep Vaheesan, legal director at Anti-Monopoly War and Advocate Group Open Markets Institute, told Polygon. “It simply came to our notice then [Apple and Google] gained this dominant position and tried to exploit this dominant position in new markets. This is a major lawsuit. ”

Vaheesan said Epic Games attorneys presented “detailed factual allegations” that relied on “strong legal theories,” which is good for the company. Epic is not asking the court to rewrite anti-trust law as it is now – instead it is asking a judge to simply enforce the law as it exists. It is different, in that way, from the anti-trust hearing in Congress last month, where government officials discussed potential changes to the rules on market power. (However, Epic’s lawsuit is still important in that if Epic wins, it will make it clear that the practices of Apple and Google are illegal, and then these companies will be forced to change their practices.)

The subcommittee of the U.S. House of Representatives on anti-trust, commercial and administrative law held a major hearing on July 29, in which lawmakers grilled tech executives, including Alphabet CEO Sundar Pichai, Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos, Apple CEO Tim Cook, and Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg. The high-profile hearing put the four CEOs before Congress, asking them to answer questions about the power their companies have.

The hearing, like Epic’s lawsuits against Apple and Google, brought anti-trust and monopoly issues to the public front. And that’s important, regardless of whether things turn in Epic’s favor in the court of law.

“It will be a test of whether the law that is nominally on the books is actually effective in limiting the power and practices of these large tech companies,” Vaheesan said.

The problem is not just that Apple and Google are monolithic companies, but that they have large monopolies over certain markets. Valarie Williams, an anti-trust lawyer and partner at Alston & Bird, told Polygon that the basic accusation of Epic Games comes down to whether Apple (and, subsequently, Google) has a monopoly through its App Store. For Epic to succeed in its lawsuits, it must prove that the market exists – and that companies have monopolies over them.

She pointed to another restriction, the “binding” scheme, which Epic Games said was antitrust infringement. “[Apple] says that if you are going to use the App Store, you will need to use our payment processing service; you can not use your own, ‘said Williams. If you do not want to do that, then you can not use the App Store – and therefore Fortnite was removed.

“It’s not a problem to be monopoly,” Williams said. “It is not a problem under the law to have market power. It’s when you use it to restrict competition. And Epic Games has claimed that this is exactly what the restrictions do, at least in the case of Apple – you just can not move to another app store on iOS, because Apple does not allow them to exist.

Epic Games will, in its case, build on the ‘public and political momentum generated by last month’s hearing,’ Vaheesan added. He said anti-trust issues are not typically “news on the page”, but that is changing, of course – with the congressional hearings and now, ‘Epic Games’ #FreeFortnite campaign, which specifically seems designed to provoke anger of gamers.

FortniteThe removal of the app stores does not necessarily affect gamers – at least, not gamers on Android. Google’s platform is more open than Apple’s, and the game was not even available in the Play Store until April. Instead, people had to download it directly from Epic Games, and they can still do so, including its updates. On iOS, it’s not that simple. Yes can not just go to Epic Games to download Fortnite one has updates. New users may not be able to download the game at all, and current users may not be able to play the next update should Apple net return it to the store. Probably, hold Fortnite of the app stores means that Google and Apple are losing something – the 30% commission they take from in-app purchases, which is what Epic Games wants to stop, however.

At this point, it does not necessarily make sense even to chat about as Epic games and Fortnite could or will win against Apple and Google in court. The legal process for anti-trust cases is devastatingly slow.

“We will probably not get a resolution soon,” Vaheesan said. He pointed to a class action lawsuit against practitioners of Apple’s App Store that has been in court for a decade. (The Supreme Court ruling in 2019 in the case, Apple v. Piper, allowed for further proceedings in lower courts.)

John Bergmayer, Legal Director for Consumer Rights Public Knowledge, told Polygon that Epic Games’ approach to public opinion puts the gaming industry in a good position – despite the potential outcome of the lawsuits.

If Epic Games finally wins over Apple and Google, then that’s great. It will benefit Epic Games, but more importantly, it will force the industry to change its practices, at least in terms of binding exclusivity for app purchases. If the case ends in a settlement, that still means something is going in Epic Games’ favor, although it may not have as broad an application to the sector as a whole. (However, Epic said it is not seeking a special exemption from both Google and Apple.)

But even if Epic loses, it will not be the end of this particular battle. “It sucks, it’s bad to lose, but it at least underscores the need for some kind of action by Congress to change the law,” Bergmayer said.

Congress seems at least interested in examining the nature of the antitrust breach of these companies, per the hearing of the House antitrust committee. Apple is also reported under a Department of Justice investigation for its App Store policy, similar in nature to the Epic Games case. However, it is difficult to say what will come of any of this, or how long it would take to make adjustments to existing anti-trust laws. That’s on top of the ongoing one Apple v. Piper case and the investigations of the European Union into the company.

Rep. David Cicilline (D-RI), chair of the Anti-Trust Subcommittee, has spoken out publicly (and strongly) against these practices – notably Apple’s.

“Apple’s tax is robbery for highways,” Cicilline said in a statement emailed to Polygon. “These high fees would not exist in a competitive marketplace. It is also scandalous that a company worth almost $ 2 trillion with record breaking profits is holding smaller companies hostage during an economic crisis. All just because it can. This is a real problem. It not only undermines innovation – it threatens the jobs and economic existence of the people who work for these companies. ”