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I'm very sure Epic saw this coming. I assume they, and many others, are spoiling for a fight with Apple over this and are willing to take this risk in bringing

by untog 6y ago

I'm very sure Epic saw this coming. I assume they, and many others, are spoiling for a fight with Apple over this and are willing to take this risk in bringing public opinion with them.

threeseed 6y ago
Of course they did. It's to coincide with EU/US investigations into the Apple and Google App Stores.
naravara 6y ago
This seems ill-advised for Epic, in particular. The fight they're picking will logically end in a regulatory hammer coming down and that hammer is going to hit Epic a lot harder than Apple just because Epic is even more reliant on extracting revenue from being a platform owner than Apple is.
- Benjamin_Dobell 6y ago
  Epic's platform is Unreal Engine. The key difference is Unreal Engine is not the only game engine. You can use another game engine and gain access to the exact same user base. You could certainly argue Epic Games have made anti-competitive plays. However, they're not stupid, they even fund their "competitors" https://gamefromscratch.com/godot-receives-epic-megagrant/ https://gamefromscratch.com/godot-receives-epic-megagrant/.
  - shadowgovt 6y ago
    ... and the Epic Game Store. They're setting themselves up for building precedent where in the future, an MMO uses EGS for distribution and bypasses the EGS payment model, and they won't have any legal teeth to challenge that without getting hit in the face with precedent they helped set. Which may actually be the plan, as the EGS isn't the only revenue feather in their cap. If they're fine taking that hit because they get game devs twice (selling them distribution and selling them an engine their game is written in), more power to them. In theory, one can model Apple the same way (i.e. the App Store is a distribution channel to encourage people to buy Apple hardware so they can use the channel), but it sounds like maybe Apple found a great rent opportunity and is reluctant to let it go. Time for someone to remind them they're a hardware company that writes software as an excuse for people to buy their hardware. ;)
    - lukeramsden 6y ago
      > They're setting themselves up for building precedent where in the future, an MMO uses EGS for distribution and bypasses the EGS payment model, and they won't have any legal teeth to challenge that without getting hit in the face with precedent they helped set That's not the same at all, there's no devices that solely run the EGS, there's nothing stopping any game studio from taking their game to Steam, Origin, GOG, or even making their own.
  - pythonaut_16 6y ago
    The problem isn't that Apple has more of a monopoly than Epic has with Unreal Engine, it's that Apple has a monopoly on a distribution channel to end users.

by untog 6y ago

I'm very sure Epic saw this coming. I assume they, and many others, are spoiling for a fight with Apple over this and are willing to take this risk in bringing public opinion with them.

threeseed 6y ago

Of course they did. It's to coincide with EU/US investigations into the Apple and Google App Stores.

naravara 6y ago

This seems ill-advised for Epic, in particular. The fight they're picking will logically end in a regulatory hammer coming down and that hammer is going to hit Epic a lot harder than Apple just because Epic is even more reliant on extracting revenue from being a platform owner than Apple is.

Benjamin_Dobell 6y ago
Epic's platform is Unreal Engine. The key difference is Unreal Engine is not the only game engine. You can use another game engine and gain access to the exact same user base. You could certainly argue Epic Games have made anti-competitive plays. However, they're not stupid, they even fund their "competitors" https://gamefromscratch.com/godot-receives-epic-megagrant/ https://gamefromscratch.com/godot-receives-epic-megagrant/.
- shadowgovt 6y ago
  ... and the Epic Game Store. They're setting themselves up for building precedent where in the future, an MMO uses EGS for distribution and bypasses the EGS payment model, and they won't have any legal teeth to challenge that without getting hit in the face with precedent they helped set. Which may actually be the plan, as the EGS isn't the only revenue feather in their cap. If they're fine taking that hit because they get game devs twice (selling them distribution and selling them an engine their game is written in), more power to them. In theory, one can model Apple the same way (i.e. the App Store is a distribution channel to encourage people to buy Apple hardware so they can use the channel), but it sounds like maybe Apple found a great rent opportunity and is reluctant to let it go. Time for someone to remind them they're a hardware company that writes software as an excuse for people to buy their hardware. ;)
  - lukeramsden 6y ago
    > They're setting themselves up for building precedent where in the future, an MMO uses EGS for distribution and bypasses the EGS payment model, and they won't have any legal teeth to challenge that without getting hit in the face with precedent they helped set That's not the same at all, there's no devices that solely run the EGS, there's nothing stopping any game studio from taking their game to Steam, Origin, GOG, or even making their own.
- pythonaut_16 6y ago
  The problem isn't that Apple has more of a monopoly than Epic has with Unreal Engine, it's that Apple has a monopoly on a distribution channel to end users.