The judge in the Epic vs. Apple lawsuit has finally issued a ruling. Despite what a number of outlets seem to be saying, today's ruling really isn't a win for Epic Games. In fact, it's more of a win for Apple when you take everything into account.
In short, Epic lost on all but one count. Epic had wanted the judge to say that Apple was a monopoly, forcing it to lower its fees to below the industry standard 30% cut. Neither of those two things actually happened in this ruling.
The judge also ruled that Epic did violate Apple's terms and conditions and did not rule that Fortnite must be added back to the Apple App Store.
Apple was able to prove that the walled-garden model does actually provide consumer-focused security benefits. They also are still entitled to a commission or license fee even if other payment methods are used. In addition to keeping Fortnite off of the store, Apple is free to keep their ban in place for everything from Epic Games and subsidiaries.
On top of all that, Epic has to pay Apple 30% of the nearly $12.2M (USD) that they made through the direct purchase option before Fortnite was banned from the store.
In fact, the only thing that Epic won is the fact that Apple can no longer forbid apps from linking to external payment systems. Apple also cannot block users from being informed of alternative payment options. Mind you, this isn't saying that apps can contain payment options directly within the apps, only that they may link to them. So even with this minor win, they still kind of lost.
Apple issued a statement in response to the ruling:
"Today the Court has affirmed what we've known all along: the App Store is not in violation of antitrust law. As the Court recognized 'success is not illegal." Apple faces rigorous competition in every segment in which we do business, and we believe customers and developers choose us because our products and services are the best in the world. We remain committed to ensuring the App Store is a safe and trusted marketplace that supports a thriving developer community and more than 2.1 million U.S. jobs, and where the rules apply equally to everyone."
"Today’s ruling isn't a win for developers or for consumers. Epic is fighting for fair competition among in-app payment methods and app stores for a billion consumers.
"Fortnite will return to the iOS App Store when and where Epic can offer in-app payment in fair competition with Apple in-app payment, passing along the savings to consumers.
"Thanks to everyone who put so much time and effort into the battle over fair competition on digital platforms, and thanks especially to the court for managing a very complex case on a speedy timeline. We will fight on."
"Fortnite will return to the iOS App Store when and where Epic can offer in-app payment in fair competition with Apple in-app payment, passing along the savings to consumers.
"Thanks to everyone who put so much time and effort into the battle over fair competition on digital platforms, and thanks especially to the court for managing a very complex case on a speedy timeline. We will fight on."
If you're going to use Apple's store you follow their rules, it's their store, you can't just try circumventing someone elses store, it's their friggin store.
The brief mention of Apple's cut reminds me of Steam's cut, similar to Apple i'm pretty sure Steam can prove the cut they take is justified considering the services they provide, if a developer wants a cheaper option they can go to Epic, who after 2 years are about to add the much anticipated shopping cart.
I know Steam has been going a long time (in fact, tomorrow is the 18th anniversary of the public full launch, and Steam was *terrible* for ages (still has database issues to this day often)). Steam's software and customization of that is incredible now, as is the fact I can usually use my entire gig fiber in downloading. I can't though support Valve's hands-off approach to community relations because there isn't any tangible reason for continuing to take a 30% cut, given other distribution outlets reducing their own, or at least supporting the industry following suit. So I won't dismiss Epic entirely.
Nothing a few thousand hours of software engineering, UI redesign, and remembering to not engage in fortnite-fan-baiting while being disingenuous about their legal posturing won't fix...
"i'm pretty sure Steam can prove the cut they take is justified considering the services they provide"
Same here, but they won't. The impact of EGS to their income I'm sure is negligible, all told, so no word. Just means that the only one who loses out is the consumer in terms of where they can buy their software.
So even if they aren't justified in the 30% cut, which they totally are for everything Steam offers, they're already making well below that as is.
Keep in mind that while Valve starts at a 30% cut, they reduce that to 25% after earning $10M, and then 20% at $50M.
Not only that, but Valve gets absolutely nothing when studios create Steam keys and sell them at other retailers, which they are totally free to do. And this is a big part in how their average cut is said to be around 11%.
But the narrative for people that hate Steam for whatever reason, or from those that are being disingenuous (Looking at you Sweeney), are that Valve takes a 30% cut and that's that.