Epic's Tim Sweeney said he would have taken special deal with Apple
Epic Games CEO Tim Sweeney said that he would have taken a special deal with reduced App Store commissions and fees if Apple had offered one to him.
Credit: Epic Games
Sweeney was again on the stand Tuesday in the Epic Games v. Apple case. The Epic CEO's testimony started on Monday, during which he was grilled on platform agreements and the scope of "Fortnite."
On Tuesday, Epic's lawyer in the case asked Sweeney if he would have accepted a special deal with reduced app and in-app purchase commissions from Apple.
"If Apple told you the deal would only be with you and no other developers," the lawyer asked. "Would you have accepted that deal?"
"Yes, I would have," Sweeney replied.
That question references Sweeney's prior attempts to negotiate special treatment for "Fortnite" from Apple. The question posed by Epic's lawyer Tuesday seems to be an attempt to downplay the request by making it appear that Apple was unwilling to offer such a deal or negotiate special treatment.
During other portions of Sweeney's cross-examination, the Epic executive said he uses an iPhone for the privacy and security benefits, and also admitted that 30% is an industry standard commission across other app stores. Still, that 30% could hinder the future of "Fortnite."
"The long-term evolution of Fortnite will be opening up Fortnite as a platform for creators to distribute their work to users and creators will make the majority of profits," Sweeney said. "With Apple taking 30% off of the top, it makes it very hard for Epic and creators to exist in this future world."
Another tidbit that surfaced during the trial is the fact that Sweeney had contacted Apple CEO Tim Cook directly in 2015 to call for a more open App Store.
According to documents made public as part of the case and seen by The Verge, Sweeney wrote that "The App Store has done much good for the industry, but it doesn't seem tenable for Apple to be the sole arbiter of expression and commerce over an app platform approaching a billion users."
The Epic CEO then asked Apple to "separate iOS App Store curation from compliance review and app distribution."
Credit: Epic Games
Sweeney was again on the stand Tuesday in the Epic Games v. Apple case. The Epic CEO's testimony started on Monday, during which he was grilled on platform agreements and the scope of "Fortnite."
On Tuesday, Epic's lawyer in the case asked Sweeney if he would have accepted a special deal with reduced app and in-app purchase commissions from Apple.
"If Apple told you the deal would only be with you and no other developers," the lawyer asked. "Would you have accepted that deal?"
"Yes, I would have," Sweeney replied.
That question references Sweeney's prior attempts to negotiate special treatment for "Fortnite" from Apple. The question posed by Epic's lawyer Tuesday seems to be an attempt to downplay the request by making it appear that Apple was unwilling to offer such a deal or negotiate special treatment.
During other portions of Sweeney's cross-examination, the Epic executive said he uses an iPhone for the privacy and security benefits, and also admitted that 30% is an industry standard commission across other app stores. Still, that 30% could hinder the future of "Fortnite."
"The long-term evolution of Fortnite will be opening up Fortnite as a platform for creators to distribute their work to users and creators will make the majority of profits," Sweeney said. "With Apple taking 30% off of the top, it makes it very hard for Epic and creators to exist in this future world."
Another tidbit that surfaced during the trial is the fact that Sweeney had contacted Apple CEO Tim Cook directly in 2015 to call for a more open App Store.
According to documents made public as part of the case and seen by The Verge, Sweeney wrote that "The App Store has done much good for the industry, but it doesn't seem tenable for Apple to be the sole arbiter of expression and commerce over an app platform approaching a billion users."
The Epic CEO then asked Apple to "separate iOS App Store curation from compliance review and app distribution."
Comments
Would you accept more money? Yup!
He have just thrown away all sympathy he may have mustered from other disgruntled developers. "Yeah, we are big and hoped to manage a compromise—like Amazon did! You couldn't even get to ask for that? Sucks to be you!!!"
And that's really too bad. Even though Fortnite never caught my attention, even being free to play, I remember buying all three Infinity Blade games on day one. Those were pretty enjoyable games! I even bought the books expanding the lore and story. I really thought that Epic had messed up when they let that property die... but they upped their game in fumbling the ball.
If Anyone else supports epic at this point I’m sorry ,You are not very bright
https://finance.yahoo.com/news/judge-presses-epic-ceo-during-221006843.html
>Gonzalez Rogers asked Sweeney whether the company's desire to be free of Apple's in-app purchase requirements meant that it wanted the "Fortnite" user base, which includes many younger users, to have access to "what I would call, as a parent, an impulse purchase."
"What you are really asking for is the ability to have impulse purchases," she said to Sweeney through layers of plexiglass separating the witness booth from the bench.
"Yes," Sweeny replied, "customer convenience is a huge factor in this."<
If customer convenience is a huge factor in this, then there is nothing more convenient for iOS customers, than to use iTunes to pay for their app purchases. Every iOS user has an iTunes account, that is safe and can be funded by using gift cards (which can be purchased at a discount), CC, PayPal, Debit Card and ApplePay. Plus a parent can set up and fund an iTunes account for their kids, to limit their spending. (I'm sure Sweeney is against this and sees it as another way that Apple is stealing money from Epic.)
I have no doubt that Sweeney can do even better (in making a fool of himself) in the coming days of the trial.
remember how much support Apple gave them to have the must-have game on the App Store?
Epic bit the Apple that fed them and I have ZERO remorse for that company. I think this gives Apple the perfect opportunity to compete with them. Make great first party games and a game engine to take out Unreal Engine.
I was gonna make these exact points. What’s the point of this scumbag admitting his greed?
/s
Apple is a player in the smartphone, tablet, and personal computing spaces.
so don’t rule it out…
The problem is that V-Bucks must cost the same on all app stores. Just like how a Netflix subscription cost the same, no matter which platform one uses to pay. This prevent players from favoring one platform from which to purchase V-Bucks. Because even if the V-Bucks are not transferable across game console platforms, all virtual items bought with V-Bucks are accessible no matter which platform the player is playing on. A cool looking virtual outfit bought on an X-Box can still be used while playing on an iPhone or Playstation. So nothing would stop a player from buying virtual goods on the platform that has the best deal on V-Bucks.
And because all V-Bucks must cost the same on all app stores, Epic can not give iOS and Android users a discount on V-bucks when purchased from Epic website, as an incentive for them to buy their V-bucks from there. When Epic offered discounted V-Bucks at the time they got kicked out of the Apple and Google Play app stores, they offered the same discount to all game consoles app stores, for the same period of time. They had to, V-bucks must cost the same from all app stores.
Without the discount, there would be no reason at all for a Fortnight player on a mobile device to login to their account on the Epic website with a browser, to buy V-Bucks that cost the same as if they were to buy it from the free Fortnight app on the mobile device.
Epic knows that very few players on a mobile device will leave the app, to buy V-bucks from Epic website and Epic can not offer a discount as an incentive for them to do so. Which is why Epic wants a direct link to their website to buy V-Bucks, from inside their game app on mobile devices. Which is prohibited on both Apple and Google Play app stores. Microsoft, Sony and Nintendo would never allow this on their game console platforms.