I'm not excited by the proposition of either party coming out on top. I hope the EU sees the forest for the trees and understands that the situation is a lot more complicated than either party would claim.
Apple is acting as a leader in reducing the footprint of general computing hardware; albeit their devices have among the longest service lives, they continue to be further restricted in their operation over time. There is a danger here with the population switching en masse from using PCs to using Phones as their primary computing devices. Forcing it to allow third party marketplaces might be a start in reversing that trend.
Epic is a leader in the development of anxiety-driven consumer software. Fortnite's primary capital isn't the player's competitive standing, it's the uniqueness of their cosmetic gear. They target the most vulnerable and maleable markets, tweens and children, and ply them with social anxiety; one of the most insidious and emotionally distressing devices for that age group. See also, yesterday's lengthy discussion. [0]
So I kind of hope that the EU allows third party stores, but allows Apple to place curation constraints on the sort of purchases that are available to users.
Candy Crush Saga is in the list of Top Free Games on the App Store. So was Fortnite, up until Epic decided they were tired of paying the Apple Tax.
Apple isn't defending users from games with manipulative business models, and in fact is actively profiting from them. This lawsuit is about Apple's ability to profit from them.
Why should I believe that Apple actually care in anyway about their users? Fortnite and co. are going to be regulated severely in the coming years - probably not by Apple.
Have they not hosted Fortnite right up until they wouldn't pay their rent?
F2P regulations have advanced rapidly in Asian countries and since the games have global audiences, everyone worldwide is now "benefitting" from the regulation. Boot up a gacha game and it will have guaranteed reward schedules, clearly explained drop rates, and caps on spend.
Retail games have had a ratings body and seller restrictions by age for decades now.
Considering video games have such stringent regulations on their design, in ways that make the design cost-prohibitive to tailor for different geographies; and content-based sales restrictions around the globe - it's safe to say that games are heavily regulated as well.
Fortnite sells skins directly without blind boxes, which is as tame as virtual goods come. As it happens, none of their virtual goods come anywhere close to F2P regulations. You could have an equivalent moral panic about Twitch chat emojis.
I guess my point is, how much regulation will it take before Fortnite isn't preying on children anymore? Is uncapped spend the problem? Should we limit the other kid hobbies as well? There's really nothing forcing them to stop buying pokemon cards, or comic books, or TV episodes, or toys they see in commercials.
I can’t tell my 12 year old stepson to stop playing fortnite because it’s a large part of his social life in connecting with family on another continent. At the same time, he has spent nearly every dollar that has come
his way in the last 8 months on the game, talks about it all the time, watches youtube videos when he can’t play Switch, etc...
I am happy he has a medium to socialize but the anxiety he gets from this machine is intense.
I generally advocate for users rights, but I am siding with Apple on this one. There is no monopoly - Epic has many (mobile) platforms to distribute their games/platform, including switch and android, that I can’t imagine the EU sides with them - especially in europe where iPhones don’t constitute the same market share.
However, what I would advocate for is a possibility for officially rooting your iPhone (with lots of big scary messages along the way) and mutual app store exclusion.
If Epic wants to run their own app store, great, but I don’t believe Apple should be obligated to make it comfortable.
I hate fortnite for what it is. I love unreal engine for what it is. Regardless of my stake in Apple/Epic is, I think this needs to be addressed. The economics of platforms as a monopsony are damaging. We see it in other areas too. Uber Eats and what is effectively extortion of small business restaurants. It's like the definition of economic rent, and it's a mess of bad incentives.
I would strongly support a system that forced operators to either run at cost or to charge any price but allow sideloading.
A maximum profit margin on services like could also be viable.
> So I kind of hope that the EU allows third party stores, but allows Apple to place curation constraints on the sort of purchases that are available to users.
If we follow the logic of Phones providing access to a market that must remain "free" and allow competition, then constraints on purchase might be something decided by society/people/governments more than a single private company?
This is literally how it's implemented in the rest of the world: store owner cannot list items that are restricted, by law.
Sotres can determine what goes in them, under constraints decided by society/people/governments (law).
Your proposition was allowing third party store, but in the end letting Apple choose what is good or not. I'm just saying it's risky and we already have tools to decide what is good or not. A private company in full control of rules & implementation doesn't sounds like an efficient way to open a market.
That was not about forcing stores to list everything - might be an idea when there is a monopoly. Don't know if this situation exists, that's a different topic.
> Fortnite's primary capital isn't the player's competitive standing, it's the uniqueness of their cosmetic gear. They target the most vulnerable and maleable markets, tweens and children, and ply them with social anxiety;
Apple is acting as a leader in reducing the footprint of general computing hardware; albeit their devices have among the longest service lives, they continue to be further restricted in their operation over time. There is a danger here with the population switching en masse from using PCs to using Phones as their primary computing devices. Forcing it to allow third party marketplaces might be a start in reversing that trend.
Epic is a leader in the development of anxiety-driven consumer software. Fortnite's primary capital isn't the player's competitive standing, it's the uniqueness of their cosmetic gear. They target the most vulnerable and maleable markets, tweens and children, and ply them with social anxiety; one of the most insidious and emotionally distressing devices for that age group. See also, yesterday's lengthy discussion. [0]
So I kind of hope that the EU allows third party stores, but allows Apple to place curation constraints on the sort of purchases that are available to users.
0: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=26153331