Over the past year, Epic Games, developer of Fortnite, has exposed Apple for charging 30% commission. Epic accused Apple of being a monopoly and abusing its dominant position, which the Cupertino-based company was able to easily refute exulting in the court resolution as Epic announced it would appeal after losing the lawsuit. And everything, as we will see, came to nothing.
Epic files a complaint, but justice agrees with Apple
Before we get into the nitty-gritty, it’s worth reviewing what happened in Epic’s lawsuit against Apple and the outcome of the situation. The reason for the request was that Epic didn’t like the commissions it had to pay Apple for in-app purchases. Considering this, he opened an alternative payment gateway in the app, violating App Store rules. This led to the removal of the app from the store.
Within hours, Epic had already registered its complaint against Apple. A complaint we learned later had been brewing for several months and he was ready. Without losing sight of the fact that Epic did the same thing in the Google store and that Google also removed Fortnite from the Play Store, what is clear is that the intention of the developer was to be able to be on iPhone and iPad without having to pay commissions.
Epic wanted to be in the store without paying anything in return. Justice agreed with Apple.
Justice, logically, agreed with AppleWell, not only does the company have full rights to monetize its intellectual property as it sees fit, but Epic’s monopoly accusation against Apple is totally false. In summary, here is what was dictated in the sentence:
- The judge said Apple is not a monopoly, either under federal law or state law.
- Developers have benefited from the “elevated” iOS ecosystem, which includes software and devices.
- The App Store contains a framework that incorporates user review, protection, privacy, and security, stating that this framework is legal.
- Removing Epic from the App Store was therefore legal.
- These are features that differentiate the App Store from other platforms, encouraging developers and users to transact.
Wherever you go, the commission is 30%
And now we come to the heart of the matter. Just a few hours ago we learned that Fortnite is coming back to iPhone thanks to Microsoft’s Xcloud. A game that, in addition, can be played for free without needing more than an account in the service. What Epic does not announce, however, is that will continue to pay 30% of in-app purchases to Microsoft when buying a skin or turkeys.
We are collecting data from a study commissioned by Apple to be able to demonstrate to the judge that 30% commission is the industry standard. As we can see from the information below, from this document, Xbox, PlayStation and Nintendo charge 30% commissions. Steam, a very relevant platform, sets commissions, between 20 and 30% depending on billing.
At the time, we were already echoing the thunderous silence of Epic Games in the face of the iron grip of video game consoles in their crusade against the Apple Store. Also pointing out that both Sony and Microsoft have different types of collaboration and his involvement in the Epic Games business. Will Epic now expose Microsoft and accuse it of monopoly?
In any case, what is striking is that we have seen so much movement for nothing. Epic had to pay Apple six million dollars and ensured that Fortnite would never set foot on the App Store again. Today Fortnite will return to iPhone and iPad, great. But what he will do this by paying the same 30% commission he previously paid to Apple. Presumably after they wanted to leave the store (and the judge recommended that they disable the alternate gateway and continue through the process of trials and appeals) in Epic, they wanted to recover the lost revenue . At the cost of paying 30% to another company, which is not Apple, but paying the same 30%. Curious. You can run whatever you want, Fortnite, but you don’t escape the 30% commission.