The last few days have been pretty intense for Apple and Epic Games after the popular game Fortnite was removed from the App Store to continue Apple’s system In-App Purchases. While Epic Games is now suing Apple, a new report is from The information shows that the gaming company is trying to collaborate with other companies against Apple and App Store policies.
The report heard from sources that Epic Games reached out to executives of other tech companies who disagreed with the strict rules of Apple’s App Store, such as the 30% commission taken from each sale. One of these companies is Spotify, which has criticized Apple’s company regarding the App Store.
While claiming it has no coalition with Epic Games, a Spotify spokesman said last week that the company supports Epic’s decision to fight “Apple’s unfair practices.” Spotify claims that the App Store’s business model arbitrarily harms competitors and hurts consumers.
An executive from a gaming company, who did not want to be identified, said he was supporting pressure against Apple to reduce App Store commissions. The executive was contacted by Epic Games to join the group against Apple, but he declined the invitation out of fear that the group might also violate antitrust laws.
Several large tech companies are also concerned about Apple’s App Store policies, but may be reluctant to join any formal group because they are dealing with their own anti-trust probes. However, Epic’s campaign has already encouraged some of them to increase their criticism of Apple’s practices.
According to The information, Facebook has decided to launch its new service that hosts paid live streaming events sooner than expected following the dispute between Epic Games and Apple. Facebook also criticized Apple for the 30% commission on App Store sales because the company tried to negotiate to avoid this fee by claiming that Apple’s commission was hurting small businesses during the pandemic.
We still have to figure out the outcome of this battle between Apple, Epic Games and other developers, but it’s worth remembering that Apple now has to make multiple anti-trust attempts due to the App Store’s monopoly.
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