By weaponizing Fortnite and with Apple as its primary target, Epic Games is well positioned to lead the fight for a change in app store policies

The Verge 2020-08-15 Tom Warren

Context & Ripple Effects

Epic has turned its dispute with Apple into a public campaign rather than a quiet legal fight: days after this piece ran, it staged a #FreeFortnite tournament with anti-Apple prizes, urging iOS players to switch platforms and lobby Apple directly on social media. The company is pairing that fan mobilization with courtroom preparation — the antitrust arguments in its court filings draw on earlier successful standoffs with gaming giants like Sony.

First-order effects

Apple faces simultaneous pressure from Epic's litigation track and a consumer-facing campaign that converts Fortnite's iOS audience into lobbyists, raising the reputational cost of enforcing its store rules.
Fortnite players on iOS are the immediate constituency: Epic is explicitly asking them to switch devices or platforms, making them participants in the dispute rather than bystanders.

Second-order effects

Other developers gain cover to challenge Apple's terms, since Epic's fight tests whether a single large publisher can force concessions from the gatekeeper without being permanently locked out.
The scale of the stakes is what makes regulators pay attention: as Benedict Evans noted at the time, roughly a billion active iPhones and hundreds of millions of weekly App Store users mean any rule change ripples across an enormous installed base (the case for new App Store rules).

Third-order effects

If Epic's pattern holds — public campaign plus litigation plus regulatory pressure — app stores move toward contested, negotiable platforms; four years later Epic did launch its own iOS games store in the EU, suggesting the pressure eventually produced structural openings where regulation allowed.
Stratechery's framing at the time pointed at the deeper shift: every self-favoring Apple decision invites scrutiny of its power regardless of who wins any single court fight (the scrutiny argument), meaning the precedent outlives the verdict.

The trend: App store economics are shifting from unilateral gatekeeper control to contested ground shaped by developer campaigns, antitrust litigation, and region-by-region regulatory openings.

Discussion

@timsweeneyepic Tim Sweeney on x
At the most basic level, we're fighting for the freedom of people who bought smartphones to install apps from sources of their choosing, the freedom for creators of apps to distribute them as they choose, and the freedom of both groups to do business directly.
@markgurman Mark Gurman on x
Epic's Fornite has been removed from the App Store after they implemented direct payments, circumventing Apple's 30% cut.
@neilcybart Neil Cybart on x
Is this a joke? The more Epic says, the worse they look. https://twitter.com/...
@_chuckyc Charlie Chapman on x
Oh dang, they're not fighting for 30% of Fortnite sales, they're fighting for ~12% of everyone elses 😅 Makes more sense why they're prepping to spend this much money on this long shot battle with Apple. They smell the opportunity to become the Steam of mobile https://twitter.com/…
@benedictevans Benedict Evans on x
This is similar to the fallacy 'it's my computer so I should be free to do what I want It's bad for users for any random app to ask for a card It's easy for a big trusted brand to do that, but much less so for other developers Is removing that level playing field good for devs? h…
@stevekovach Steve Kovach on x
Why does Apple take more heat on its App Store policies than Google? Simple. People spend A LOT more money on Apple's App Store. Here's what Fortnite $$$ looks like on iOS vs. Android. https://www.cnbc.com/... https://twitter.com/...
@bgurley Bill Gurley on x
I wrote this about the recent battle between Apple and Epic. https://abovethecrowd.com/...
@reckless Nilay Patel on x
The law firm representing Epic / Fortnite in its antitrust case against Apple and Google also defended Qualcomm against the FTC's antitrust case and Amex in 2018's huge Supreme Court antitrust case. (And won both.) Safe bet they know what's possible under current law.
@gibiz GamesIndustry on x
In the last 30 days, App Store players spent $43.4 million on Fortnite, while the Google Play audience spent just $3.3 million https://www.gamesindustry.biz/ ...
@fmpone @fmpone on x
“Morality is when I get the exact business outcome I want.” 😇 https://twitter.com/...
@jstoff @jstoff on x
Epic stands to make millions more *per week* if they skirt Apple's terms from Fortnite alone. Altruism is not Epic's motivation to spend this much cash on a lawsuit, it's a desire for new revenue growth. https://twitter.com/...
@charlesarthur Charles Arthur on x
@CompetitionProf problem: the “mobile” industry in this case includes Nintendo (Switch, on which Fortnite is also available), and the market for this game extends to game consoles and PCs. In that perspective, Apple and Google look more like retailers who charge higher markups.
@aydenpanhuyzen Ayden Panhuyzen on x
This. I really hate seeing people say “why should I care? It's just 2 huge co's battling over money.” Epic is fighting for what indie devs have been complaining about for years. The minute someone with the money and reach to effectively do so joins in, we should just ignore it? h…
@reneritchie Rene Ritchie on x
TIL Sony owns 1.4% of Epic. (Tencent owns 40%.) https://twitter.com/...
@alexhern Alex Hern on x
@charlesarthur @benthompson One reason I think Epic has a really good case compared to a lot of others is that they passed the discount on. American monopoly law is laser focused on cost to consumer, and Epic can now explicitly point to a case where the consumer is paying more in…
@tailosivetech @tailosivetech on x
Just wanna remind everyone a 30% revenue cut on platforms is incredibly standard. In case you didn't know what YouTube takes from its creators. Epic Games on their own Store takes 12% of revenue (but not 0 like they were pitching with their vbucks in-app purchase) https://twitter…
@minovskyarticle Minovsky on x
It's astounding how quickly massive corporations adapted to mobilizing their online fanbases against each other over contract disputes. Sony and Disney's battle over Spider-Man walked so Epic vs Apple could run.
@benedictevans Benedict Evans on x
If you follow the logic of Epic's argument, iOS wouldn't just have Android's security model - iOS & Android would have the Windows security model.
@therikeys Riley Murdock on x
But what they're trying to do with these lawsuits (change the industry standard 30% platform cut) is good. Now here's the important part: you can think Epic is bad, as an entity, and still think what they're DOING is good. But people want to either HATE them or LOVE them.
@gregorymcfadden Gregory McFadden on x
Steve said it best. If the Apple store rules were really that unprofitable, the market would take care of itself by boycotting Apple and moving to another platform. The problem? A competitor would swoop in and develop an app/game for the app store to fill the void. Competition. h…
@gameovergreggy Greg Miller on x
I'm seeing a lot of people say stuff like “Why should I cheer for Epic; they're already rich.” Which, of course, is true, but I think misses one of the points of why they're doing this. Namely, they're the only ones big enough to do this and actually make a difference. THREAD
@jimsterling @jimsterling on x
We should remember everything Epic is currently saying about Apple, just in case Epic ever gets that defacto monopoly it's angling for. We'll see how their stance on anti-corporate freedom fighting holds up.
@tnkgrl Myriam Joire on x
@RDRv3 So while there's an obvious control/money angle to this Epic vs. Google/Apple battle, there's also a technical reason for this fight. I fully expect Valve, Microsoft, and others to follow in Epic's footsteps here. It's really video games industry vs. Apple/Google.
@durov Pavel Durov on x
@FortniteGame As a fan of Fortnite (and freedom), I fully support Epic Games in their fight against Apple. The fact that users and developers have been allowing Apple to hold them in digital slavery for over 12 years is an insult to humanity.
@leonlush Leon Lush on x
Multi billion dollar companies fighting is fun in theory, but watching rich nerds try and out litigate each other is lame af. I want Tim Cook vs Tim Sweeney in the octagon, 3 rounds, loin cloths and war paint, medieval weapons allowed, last one breathing takes all.
@slasher Rod Breslau on x
if anyone was wondering, Valve and Gabe Newell are fully aligned on the side of Epic Games against Apple and their control of the ecosystem. from an interview with Gabe earlier this year Gaben x Sweeney united https://twitter.com/...
@benedictevans Benedict Evans on x
Today, any developer on earth uses the same safe, trusted app store and payment system. The smallest developer you never heard of is on the same playing field as Epic. Apple's intermediate layer means you don't have to trust the dev. Epic wants to remove that.
@exponisity @exponisity on x
@Techmeme @tomwarren On the other side of the mirror, look at how Epic runs its store and at how Epic does not allow developers to set up stores to sell plug-ins to Fortnite and other games for free to compete with Epic.
@samerkamal Samer Kamal on x
If the politicians are not fixing it, we will. https://twitter.com/...
@a_webster Andrew Webster on x
i cant get over the illustration on this piece https://www.theverge.com/...
@pkafka Peter Kafka on x
Epic Games' internal name for its campaign against Apple and Google is “Project Liberty”. Here's MS Word file for the complaint they filed against Google yesterday, after being kicked out of Google's app store. https://twitter.com/...
@counternotions Kontra on x
2020: Epic Games 2004: RealNetworks https://www.techhive.com/...
@bgurley Bill Gurley on x
Another thought on Epic/Apple. Yesterday one of my children wanted to listen to an audible book on drive. In order to purchase I had to create a WiFi hotspot to my Apple laptop. The fact that purchas on a laptop OK and phone not is truly arbitrary.
@rdrv3 @rdrv3 on x
if you want to understand how the gamer world sees the Fortnite / Apple controversy, I think this Twitter moment one-liner sums it up https://twitter.com/...
@sriramk Sriram Krishnan on x
I saw first hand at MSFT in the mid-00s the harm caused by having developers root against you. Took almost a decade and Satya's ascension to recover from. Apple may not be able to measure yet the long term impact of having so many developers upset with them.
@jb_firebrand @jb_firebrand on x
The App Store and Google Play take a staggering 30% revenue cut of purchases through their stores. To put that into perspective, Roblox game developers get closer to 20%. #FreeFortnite #FreeRoblox https://twitter.com/...
@neilcybart Neil Cybart on x
The new strategy for going up against the App Store: 1) Break the rules...visibly and willingly. 2) Try to garner goodwill in the press and tech punditry world. Have people focus on Washington going after Apple. 3) Rely on straw man arguments to back up your position.
@lucas7yoshi @lucas7yoshi on x
Epic will maintain v13.40 for IOS users who have it downloaded, but they will not be able to update or access the new battle pass due to it being pulled from the App Store.
@vicious696 Parris on x
This needed to happen, if you want Apple to amend their App Store policies it will take companies like Epic, Microsoft, Nvidia, Activison, etc to use their influence on the gaming landscape to force change I want cloud gaming, Fortnite and Call of Duty on iOS demand change 😡 http…
@briannawu Brianna Wu on x
And...Apple yanked it from the App Store. The antitrust hearing was not even two weeks ago. 🙄 I think there was an argument in 2008 for Apple's aggressive App Store policies being better for consumers. I don't think there's a credible argument today. https://twitter.com/...

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