4 ms·

Why are people thanking Google? That’s like another slap on the face of Epic who burned through their millions to put a (soft) end to Google and Apple’s dominan

Why are people thanking Google? That’s like another slap on the face of Epic who burned through their millions to put a (soft) end to Google and Apple’s dominance. They still get to keep a significant cut.

kgwxd 8mo ago
Epic still deserves all the slaps it gets. They didn't do it for the good of the people. They just want to abuse their own position more efficiently.
- zarzavat 8mo ago
  Honestly I believe they did it because Tim Sweeney has fuck you money and he got pissed off at Apple.
- ericmay 8mo ago
  Yep. Spot on. And the reason you know this is true is because the arguments about increasing prices for customers due to App Store fees, which is one of the primary arguments, once removed does not result in price reductions for customers. It's just big billion dollar corporations deciding on who keeps what cut.
  - hogwasher 8mo ago
    I'm hardly a fan of Epic, but considering inflation and rising supply chain costs, a price that remains flat may be a price that would have otherwise risen. They might also direct the money towards funding more exclusives. Epic's funding has enabled some games to be made that wouldn't have been otherwise, or that wouldn't have been as full featured without that up-front cash. They sell gambling to children via lootboxes; I'm not saying they're the good guy corp. But removing Apple and Google's monopoly over phone apps and app stores would only be a good thing, in my opinion.
    - ericmay 8mo ago
      Sure but it's not just Epic. I've seen other services, ranging from Netflix to Spotify increase subscription prices. I don't disagree with your point about inflation, but we also can't really run the counterfactual, and I'm personally not inclined to give the benefit of the doubt here. As an aside we generally have some level of inflation and so while this argument may have been more convincing during a period of rapid inflation, it becomes less convincing over time. I think the reality is these services have massive margins and so there was never any intent on the part of Epic at least, to lower prices. It was always to just capture more value for their company. I don't blame them for doing that, I just find the "we're the good guys" approach to be suspicious at best. Apple's monopoly (because I have an iPhone) has been of incredible value to me so I prefer that the monopoly continue to exist. As we remove that monopoly I see more consumer harm done than good.
      - knollimar 8mo ago
        Is it not in Apple's best interest to create a local optima around their otherwise harmful practices? Design wise, they make some tradeoffs that somewhat benefit consumers so they get advocates
    - irishcoffee 8mo ago
      > considering inflation and rising supply chain costs I just can't for the life of me figure out where this money goes. People bought the same type of things 10 years ago, and the cost now isn't proportional to the cost 10 years ago. Where is the money ending up??
- satvikpendem 8mo ago
  Who cares? Their lawsuit made it way better for mobile devs in the US, including me, for selling apps. Epic can do whatever they want for their own stores as far as I care.
- sheepscreek 8mo ago
  Who cares, this is how the American justice system works. AFAIK - only DAs and govt (sometimes) look out for people’s interests, and the occasional class action lawsuits. Many civil liberties cases were one black man or black woman, or a woman, fighting against some company/establishment/govt and that ended up benefiting all others (equal rights, right to vote, right to abortion, etc). In this case, all other businesses get the same terms as Epic. In my eyes that’s a win, better than the system that existed before.
charcircuit 8mo ago
Google gets a 0% cut on Fortnite purchases in this new model.
- foobarchu 8mo ago
  That is false. Google gets a 20% cut instead of 30%, because the headline is completely wrong.
  - charcircuit 8mo ago
    Epic will not sell things as a Google Play IAP and will use their own system instead.
irishcoffee 8mo ago
> Epic who burned through their millions I wouldn't die on this hill. Epic is about as un-sympathetic character in the videogame space as you'll find anywhere. Epic wasn't trying to be altruistic.

kgwxd 8mo ago

Epic still deserves all the slaps it gets. They didn't do it for the good of the people. They just want to abuse their own position more efficiently.

zarzavat 8mo ago
Honestly I believe they did it because Tim Sweeney has fuck you money and he got pissed off at Apple.
ericmay 8mo ago
Yep. Spot on. And the reason you know this is true is because the arguments about increasing prices for customers due to App Store fees, which is one of the primary arguments, once removed does not result in price reductions for customers. It's just big billion dollar corporations deciding on who keeps what cut.
- hogwasher 8mo ago
  I'm hardly a fan of Epic, but considering inflation and rising supply chain costs, a price that remains flat may be a price that would have otherwise risen. They might also direct the money towards funding more exclusives. Epic's funding has enabled some games to be made that wouldn't have been otherwise, or that wouldn't have been as full featured without that up-front cash. They sell gambling to children via lootboxes; I'm not saying they're the good guy corp. But removing Apple and Google's monopoly over phone apps and app stores would only be a good thing, in my opinion.
  - ericmay 8mo ago
    Sure but it's not just Epic. I've seen other services, ranging from Netflix to Spotify increase subscription prices. I don't disagree with your point about inflation, but we also can't really run the counterfactual, and I'm personally not inclined to give the benefit of the doubt here. As an aside we generally have some level of inflation and so while this argument may have been more convincing during a period of rapid inflation, it becomes less convincing over time. I think the reality is these services have massive margins and so there was never any intent on the part of Epic at least, to lower prices. It was always to just capture more value for their company. I don't blame them for doing that, I just find the "we're the good guys" approach to be suspicious at best. Apple's monopoly (because I have an iPhone) has been of incredible value to me so I prefer that the monopoly continue to exist. As we remove that monopoly I see more consumer harm done than good.
    - knollimar 8mo ago
      Is it not in Apple's best interest to create a local optima around their otherwise harmful practices? Design wise, they make some tradeoffs that somewhat benefit consumers so they get advocates
  - irishcoffee 8mo ago
    > considering inflation and rising supply chain costs I just can't for the life of me figure out where this money goes. People bought the same type of things 10 years ago, and the cost now isn't proportional to the cost 10 years ago. Where is the money ending up??
satvikpendem 8mo ago
Who cares? Their lawsuit made it way better for mobile devs in the US, including me, for selling apps. Epic can do whatever they want for their own stores as far as I care.
sheepscreek 8mo ago
Who cares, this is how the American justice system works. AFAIK - only DAs and govt (sometimes) look out for people’s interests, and the occasional class action lawsuits. Many civil liberties cases were one black man or black woman, or a woman, fighting against some company/establishment/govt and that ended up benefiting all others (equal rights, right to vote, right to abortion, etc). In this case, all other businesses get the same terms as Epic. In my eyes that’s a win, better than the system that existed before.

charcircuit 8mo ago

Google gets a 0% cut on Fortnite purchases in this new model.

foobarchu 8mo ago
That is false. Google gets a 20% cut instead of 30%, because the headline is completely wrong.
- charcircuit 8mo ago
  Epic will not sell things as a Google Play IAP and will use their own system instead.

irishcoffee 8mo ago

> Epic who burned through their millions I wouldn't die on this hill. Epic is about as un-sympathetic character in the videogame space as you'll find anywhere. Epic wasn't trying to be altruistic.