Epic Games CEO Tim Sweeney Calls Apple's App Store a 'Disservice to Developers'
Epic Games CEO Tim Sweeney has called Apple's App Store, which has helped app makers earn over $260 billion since its launch, a "disservice to developers" that forces them to treat their apps as "sub-par."
Sweeney made the comments in an exclusive interview with the Financial Times, where he repeated Epic Games' previous talking points about Apple and how it is "anti-competitive" and "monopolistic." Sweeney said that Apple has "won fairly" in persuading customers to buy its hardware products but claims that forcing customers to use the App Store is unfair.
The problem here is a classic monopoly tie. You start with hardware. Apple make smartphones and they profit from their smartphones — and they deserve to. But then they force all buyers of their smartphones to use their app store exclusively for obtaining digital content. They prevent all other app stores from competing with them on hardware that's owned by a billion end users. That's the first tie and that completely obstructs all competition and market forces that would shape better app stores and better deals for consumers.
According to Sweeney, Apple uses its fair advantage in hardware to "gain an unfair advantage over competitors and other markets. And that breaks all the competitive dynamics that kept the tech industry healthy in the past."
Sweeney criticized the App Store as a platform itself, saying that despite Apple's attempt to market it as a service, it's actually a "disservice to developers." "The app store is not a service. The app store is a disservice to developers. The app store forces developers to treat their software in a sub-par way to give customers a sub-par experience to charge uncompetitive handling and processing fees to inflate the price of digital goods," the CEO of Epic Games said.
Apple has said that the App Store since its launch has helped developers earn over $260 billion and has fostered an iOS app economy that has created over 2.2 million jobs in the U.S. alone.
Epic Games has been embroiled in a massive lawsuit against Apple, concerning the App Store, that started in 2020 and is now entering its second year. The suit and its history may be confusing for some, but we have all the details in our guide.
Popular Stories
In June 2022, Apple previewed the next generation of CarPlay, promising deeper integration with vehicle functions like A/C and FM radio, support for multiple displays across the dashboard, personalization options, and more.
Apple says the first vehicles with support for the next-generation CarPlay experience will be announced in late 2023, with committed automakers including Acura, Audi,...
AirTags may be a convenient way for tracking dogs that might get off leash or otherwise lost, but there are dangers associated with the practice, as outlined by a report from The Wall Street Journal.
At 1.26 inches in diameter, AirTags are able to fit easily on a dog's collar, but that size also makes the tracking devices small enough to swallow, at least for a medium to large-sized dog, and ...
Apple will launch a foldable iPad with a carbon fiber kickstand sometime next year, according to analyst Ming-Chi Kuo.
Subscribe to the MacRumors YouTube channel for more videos. In a series of tweets, Kuo said he expects an "all-new design foldable iPad" to be the next big product launch in the iPad lineup, with no other major iPad releases in the next nine to 12 months. The analyst said he...
Apple violated United States labor laws when it sent out an email warning employees about leaking confidential information about the company, the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) said today in a ruling shared by Bloomberg.
Rules that Apple has established around leaks "tend to interfere with, restrain or coerce employees" from the exercise of their rights under the National Labor...
Following last week's hardware announcements, this week saw the actual release of several of the new products as well as operating system updates bringing new features and bug fixes across Apple's platforms.
This week also saw some fresh rumors about the iPhone 15 lineup and Apple's upcoming AR/VR headset, while we shared some tips to help you get the most of your macOS experience, so read...
Multiple rumors have suggested that the next-generation iPhone 15 models will adopt the Wi-Fi 6E standard that Apple has already introduced in the iPad Pro and MacBook Pro, and now a leaked document appears to confirm Apple's plans.
Sourced from researcher and Apple leaker Unknownz21 (@URedditor), the document features diagrams of the iPhone 15's antenna architecture. D8x refers to the...
Apple's next-generation iPhone 15 Pro and iPhone 15 Pro Max are expected to be announced in September as usual. Already, rumors suggest the devices will have at least eight exclusive features not available on the standard iPhone 15 and iPhone 15 Plus.
An overview of the eight features rumored to be exclusive to iPhone 15 Pro models:A17 chip: iPhone 15 Pro models will be equipped with an A17...
Top Rated Comments
There are sooo many stories of developers making a living off app store apps that would simply not have seen the light of day without the app store. 70% of something is more than 100% of nothing.
The hate for success that a lot of people shows is sad
I can be critical of Apple about different things, but regarding AppStore, I'm glad this "walled garden" exists; I gladly pay a bit more to have a store, where apps have to meet required standards and not every crap under the sun is available for download (possibly, with viruses and worms).
Most credit card processors charge 2.9%... plus 30 cents per transaction. <--- People tend to forget about that last part.
So on lower priced apps... that's a big chunk of your revenue going towards fees.
Also... if people are so upset about Apple or Google taking 15% or 30% of your revenue... why haven't people raised up against Youtube for taking 45% of ad sales?
With Apple and Google... you get to keep 70% or 85%
But on Youtube you only get to keep 55%
?