TECH NEWS – Epic Games CEO Tim Sweeney says it will take time to see the ‘horror show’ consequences of Apple’s new third-party iOS app distribution rules…
Epic Games CEO Tim Sweeney had much to say about Apple’s changes to the App Store in the European Union. In a lengthy post on X (formerly Twitter), Sweeney calls the update “a new instance of Malicious Compliance” — or, in layman’s terms, “hot garbage.”
Yesterday afternoon, Apple announced that it will enable sideloading, alternative app stores, and third-party browser engines on the iPhone when iOS 17.4 launches this March.
The company is also opening up the App Store to game streaming services. It finally allows developers to use alternative in-app payment options. Apple made the changes to comply with the EU’s Digital Markets Act (DMA). Because of the latter, large technology companies have to follow a strict set of rules. This is to encourage competition in the mobile application market and other areas.
Epic, which runs the Epic Games Store as well as a game called Fortnite, has been one of the loudest in demanding such changes. He fought a long legal battle against Apple’s “walled garden” approach to the App Store in the US.
But Sweeney doesn’t think Apple’s planned changes are fair to developers. He claims that Apple is forcing them to “choose between App Store exclusivity and the store terms, which will be illegal under DMA, or accept a new also-illegal anticompetitive scheme rife with new Junk Fees on downloads and new Apple taxes on payments they don’t process.”
Sweeney is likely referring to the new basic technology fee of €0.50 (about 54 cents) that Apple charges for each annual install for apps downloaded more than 1 million times in the EU.
Sweeney also objects that Apple can “choose which stores are allowed to compete with their App Store.” According to him, Apple could technically prevent Epic from launching its store. The same goes for Microsoft, Valve, Good Old Games and others. Still, according to Sweeney, his goal is to launch the Epic Games Store on iOS and Android. Also, the “#1 multi-platform software store. on the foundation of payment competition, 0%-12% fees, and exclusive games like Fortnite.”
In the coming days, several developers will undoubtedly react to Apple’s new rule changes. Spotify, for example, has already announced that it will launch its in-app payment system in the EU after the entry of the DMA into force.
Both Epic and Spotify are among Apple’s fiercest critics, and both companies hit back at Apple for imposing a 27 per cent tax on non-App Store purchases in the United States.
Sweeney will surely have something to say about Apple’s EU policy as well. It looks like he’s just getting started. “There’s a lot more hot garbage in Apple’s announcement,” he says. “It will take more time to parse both the written and unwritten parts of this new horror show, so stay tuned.”
Apple's plan to thwart Europe's new Digital Markets Act law is a devious new instance of Malicious Compliance.
They are forcing developers to choose between App Store exclusivity and the store terms, which will be illegal under DMA, or accept a new also-illegal anticompetitive…
— Tim Sweeney (@TimSweeneyEpic) January 25, 2024
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