According to the head of Epic Games, major tech companies will continue to operate illegally until there are stricter laws.

Speaking at the Y Combinator event on Wednesday, Tim Sweeney took the opportunity to take aim at both Apple and Google. The Epic Games chief believes the tech giants’ practices continue to disrupt the positive flow of Sweeney’s software business, while also discouraging developers from moving to the platform. Sweeney said that Apple and Google are also running a gangster-like business. He implied that they would stick to illegal strategies because they think they can get away with it.

The relationship between Epic Games and Apple has been bad for a long time. Tim Sweeney has not spared the Cupertino giant when criticizing its behavior in stifling competition or preventing companies from making additional revenue by forcing them to use in-app payments. Sweeney made the following comments about both Apple and Google, stating that their illegal practices can only be stopped if they do not become tougher in enforcing the law.

“The sad truth is that Apple and Google are no longer bona fide, law-abiding companies. They’re run in many ways as gangster-style companies that will do anything they think they can get away with. If they think the fine will be cheaper than the lost revenue from an illegal practice, they will always continue the illegal practice and pay the fine. Crime pays for big tech companies. Obviously, we shouldn’t expect that to change until enforcement becomes much, much more vigorous,” Sweeney said.

The anger toward Apple stems from the fact that no major game developer has been willing to distribute their titles through the Epic Games Store because of the fees Apple charges. Apps with more than one million downloads must pay Apple a “core technology” fee of 50 cents/installation per year. Sweeney argues that these games would not dare go this route unless they were generating huge revenues, and says that Apple would eventually bankrupt them rather than let them thrive.

On Google, Sweeney said that users are discouraged from trying new apps by the fact that when they install the Epic Games Store on their Android devices, they get a warning that the software is from an unknown source and could damage their device. This warning forces more than half (approximately 60%) of users to abandon the installation process, depriving Epic of another potential revenue stream.

Neither Apple nor Google will change their ways…

Source: WCCFTech