Fortnite
I’m starting to call this App Store of World War II, because it’s rapidly flourishing in something above two mega – corporations, because a third has now taken a side.
Microsoft has come out with a public statement and court submission that they stand by Epic when the company moves to protest Apple’s upcoming restrictions on its access to developers and tools to support Unreal on iOS.
The timeline so far has been:
Epic asked that they (and all developers) be able to set up a system where payment for games / microtransactions goes through them, instead of Apple’s App Store, which takes an unavoidable cut.
Apple said no. Months later, Epic went along with it, allowing Fortnite V-Bucks to be purchased directly from Epic, and avoiding the cut.
Apple banned Fortnite within hours from the App Store.
Fortnite, again within hours, sued Apple for anti-competition, and asked the court to take action against Apple’s monopolistic cut of the App Store.
Apple went even further, announcing at the end of the month that they would eliminate all support for Epic and its products, which includes the Unreal Engine, which adds not only Fortnite, but many games and apps. Unreal is not “forbidden”, but it would be difficult or impossible to support.
Epic filed an emergency petition to try to get a lawsuit to prevent Apple from doing so.
Now, today Microsoft has submitted a statement of support on behalf of Epic on the Unreal issue, specifically, stating that it is not only Epic games that are affecting it, but many projects, including its own:
“If Unreal Engine can not support games for iOS or macOS, Microsoft would have to choose between leaving its customers and potential customers on the iOS and macOS platforms or choosing a different game engine when preparing new games to develop, “read the statement.
Gears 5
This reinforces a key point that has been bounced around many tech circles, that while Apple may make the case that banning Fortnite for TOS infringement is within its rights, that it goes to Unreal Engine, and everything it touches, by the restricting Epic’s access to fixing and updating it, which is a bridge too far, and serves only to prove the case over its obvious monopoly and absolute power in space.
Microsoft is obviously a longtime friend of Epic, given that Epic’s Gears of War was one of the original Xbox hit franchises, and many MS projects use the Unreal Engine to this day. And also, of course, Microsoft is not a friend of Apple, because the companies have long been dueling in the PC space, but more recently Microsoft had to close its xCloud beta for its game streaming service on iOS, because Apple refused to let it operate for a number of reasons, and one of the points of controversy was the high cut of%.
Whether Microsoft’s support for Epic will help tip the scales for Apple’s upcoming court decision on Apple’s tough actions remains to be seen. I would imagine that Epic might as well ask Facebook for similar help, given that Facebook recently sued Apple for the absurd hoops it was made to jump through to get a Facebook Gaming app approved, and Facebook has already publicly talking about Apple’s App Save policy in forceful terms.
So yes, everyone is running against Apple on the business side with one exception, that would be Google. Google Play has banned Fortnite, Epic has also submitted Google, but since Fortnite can be page loaded on Android, it’s not that big of a deal, and Google has not gone into Epic’s ability to manage Unreal on its platforms . That’s the reason the Apple side of this is a bigger issue and is turning into the more controversial battle. This week, Apple intended to paint Epic’s Tim Sweeney in a negative light by claiming that he asked for a “special deal” for Epic to avoid the App Store fee before all of this, although the documents revealed that he asked for the opportunity to open the store not only for Epic, but for all developers, so that was a misleading characterization of what he said.
I believe the deadline Apple gave Epic was August 28th, so we need to hear something about this Unreal issue sometime. It’s a very important battle for the entire mobile ecosystem, and no matter what your opinions about Fortnite, it’s a good idea to keep an eye out.
Follow me on Twitter, YouTube en Instagram. Picking up my sci-fi novels Herokiller en Herokiller 2, and read my first series, The Earthborn Trilogy, which is also on audiobook.
