A little over a week ago, Epic Games, the developer behind Fortnite and creator of the game development platform Unreal Engine, took a shot at Apple. In a carefully planned stunt, complete with a video manifesto that’s a take-for-take homage to Apple’s iconic “1984” ad (which aired during that year’s Super Bowl and was directed by Ridley Scott), Epic made a suit against Apple. The suit was a result of Apple’s decision to ban Epic from the App Store after it made a change to Fortnite, allowing direct in-app payments. Epic timed the release of the video, which casts Apple as the oppressive “big brother” figure, and itself as the scrappy provocateur, with the news of the suit. This week, the showdown escalated when Apple announced that it would also halt the use of Epic’s Unreal Engine to make and deploy iOS games on Apple’s App Store.
A little backstory: Apple takes a 30% cut of every purchase made through its platforms, a practice Epic sees as a violation of the Sherman Antitrust Act. (Google Play has the same policy, but Android devices give developers more flexibility to host apps outside its store.) By creating a pay-to-play dynamic within the App Store and iOS devices as a whole, Apple bars competition and makes it impossible for developers to access iPhones, Macs and Apple TVs without paying what essentially amounts to a tax. That in itself has monopolistic overtones, but that’s not the only problem. Developers also take issue with the fact that this policy is unevenly enforced. For example, in April, Apple eliminated these fees for Prime Video rentals made on iOS devices, presumably because Amazon has enough leverage to challenge the norm. That capacity for rule-bending seems particularly sneaky, especially when it benefits one of the biggest companies in the world.
Desktop versions of apps are becoming more common, and while iPhones are still the industry standard, they might not stay that way forever. With more people at home, the ability to have and do everything in a mobile device seems less essential than it once did. The workarounds created by companies like Spotify, which redirects users to its desktop platform for purchases, seem less onerous when most activities happen at home. (Spotify made a public show of support to Epic, and the company is reportedly recruiting allies to join its cause.)
Corporate support is valuable, but it’s clear that Epic is interested in garnering the interest of its users, as well. As The Verge recently pointed out, Epic used the captive audience of at-home gamers to publicize its suit. The “Nineteen Eighty-Fortnite” video ran during a Party Royale match, essentially a time-out, prime time event within the Fortnite universe. (Fortnite has run a number of these kinds of opt-in events, everything from concerts and movie screenings, in the past few months.) Using the power of its unique kind of social media, Epic (a company valued at $17 billion) has cleverly positioned itself as an underdog in a fight that’s just getting started.
