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Not surprising. If people can play their PC games via Steam, they’ll be less likely to purchase games and in-app purchases on iOS. That said, Steam’s argument
by dvdhnt 8y ago
Not surprising. If people can play their PC games via Steam, they’ll be less likely to purchase games and in-app purchases on iOS.
That said, Steam’s argument is technically true (I think) - their app is basically a remote desktop client. I wonder how Apple could defend that legally without shooting itself in the foot? Although, they’ll probably come to some closed-door financial arrangement before it comes to that.
- toast0 8y agoI don't think Apple has a legal burden to have a coherent policy. They can refuse service to anyone.
- bootlooped 8y agoIt may be illegal anti-competitive behavior.
- fzzzy 8y agoThey don't have a monopoly.
- the_trapper 8y agoThey do on iOS app stores.
- scarface74 8y agoYes and every console maker has a monopoly on their own App Store....
- coralreef 8y agoThat's like saying Pizza Hut has a monopoly on Pizza Hut stores?
- slededit 8y agoanti-competitive behavior does not require a monopoly. For example two gas stations on a corner could enter into an agreement to fix prices. Neither has a monopoly on gasoline but the action is still illegal.
- jaredklewis 8y agoYea, but in the US there are basically only two kinds of illegal anti-competitive behavior: - Horizontal agreements, like the one you describe, where competitors cooperate in one way or another. Apple and Steam are not cooperating here. - “Single firm conduct,” i.e. monopoly stuff. Which laws do you think Apple is violating here?
- slededit 8y ago"Single firm conduct" is not just "monopoly stuff". Dumping for example does not require a monopoly nor a willing partner. Additionally a company may not force resellers into a specific price regardless of whether they are a monopoly. Personally I think mandatory app stores run afoul of exclusive dealing laws which do require a showing of market power to take force. The FTC had no problem enforcing this in the pipe fittings market [1] which has very healthy competition from china. A total monopoly is not required. [1] https://www.ftc.gov/enforcement/cases-proceedings/101-0080b/mcwane-inc-star-pipe-products-ltd-matter https://www.ftc.gov/enforcement/cases-proceedings/101-0080b/...
- scarface74 8y agoCollusion and illegal monopolies are entirely different. Would Nintendo be in the wrong if they didn't allow PSVue on the switch?
- d0lph 8y agoFalse equivalent, one is banning someone from the store, the other is creating compatibility when one naturally doesn't exist.
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- pier25 8y agoOTOH Steam players and mobile players have very different profiles. There is some overlap but I don't think it's that large to warrant this action from Apple.
- ascagnel_ 8y agoApple's argument could be primary purpose. A general RDP app would stream your entire desktop; exactly what happens on the desktop is outside of the purview of the app. This Steam Link app is designed to stream Steam, but can be kinda/sorta halfway backed into streaming the remote desktop. It's primary purpose is to stream the Steam "Big Picture" UI -- which prominently features an independent store -- in addition to any PC games that run through Steam. If Valve were to remove the store links, this would be a very different discussion. It's similar to how Apple wouldn't allow something like the Kindle app to "just" direct users to an in-app web-view or deep-link to content in the system browser to avoid paying Apple -- if you're selling a digital good on an iOS/tvOS platform, you need to pay the 30% gatekeeper's fee.
- guu 8y agoThis is no different than R-Play though. A Remote Play app for iOS to connect to a Playstation 4 which is allowed on the App Store.
- ascagnel_ 8y agoPlaying devil's advocate, I can see the R-Play developer defending their app as "only" streaming the PS4 experience, something that they don't really control. If Sony decided to put the store front-and-center, there's nothing that developer could do to get around it. That said: > Lombardi said Steam disabled purchasing its iOS app but did not elaborate on how the change was made.[0] If this is the case, then I've got no idea why Apple would block the app. [0]: https://www.reuters.com/article/us-apple-steam/apple-blocks-steams-plan-to-extend-its-video-games-to-iphones-idUSKCN1IQ09D https://www.reuters.com/article/us-apple-steam/apple-blocks-...
- giobox 8y agoI wonder if this is really apple’s concern. It’s not hard to imagine this feature eventually evolving to the point where you don’t run your own games on your PC and stream to your device. Surely within the next 5 years this feature evolves to have Valve run the games in the cloud and stream to your device, so it’s always available if you have a sufficient connection, no need to even have a PC. At that point it’s a much bigger competitive risk to Apples AppStore game sales revenue. To play devils advocate, I could see this argument having more strength within Apple’s walls than banning an app that just streams games from the user’s own PC. I think it’s inevitable Valve enter the cloud hosted pc gaming market eventually, personally. Sales of mobile devices and cheap PCs dwarf sales of gaming PCs, the size of the potential customer base explodes once your users don’t need to be well off enough to afford a gaming rig.