The IT Nerd

Well, the plot thickens.

CNBC is reporting that Apple via a court filing is saying that that Epic Games was looking for a “special deal”….. Which is interesting as Epic has been saying that they were not looking for any special treatment:

In its filing, Apple alleges that Epic Games asked for an individual arrangement with Apple, producing three emails from Epic CEO Tim Sweeney that bolster its claim.

This is Apple’s first significant legal response to Epic Games after the disputebetween the two companies spilled into the courts. It comes the week after Epic Games released a direct payment mechanism inside Fortnite designed to bypass the App Store’s payment system, from which Apple takes a 30% cut. Apple subsequently removed Fortnite from its store for violating its policies. People who already have Fortnite installed on their iPhones can continue to play, but cannot update or download the app for the first time. 

Epic sued it Apple in an attempt to force it to change its business practices and launched a “free Fortnite” marketing campaign portraying Apple as the villain.

And if you go to the filing, it says this:

“On June 30, 2020, Epic’s CEO Tim Sweeney wrote my colleagues and me an email asking for a ‘side letter’ from Apple that would create a special deal for only Epic that would fundamentally change the way in which Epic offers apps on Apple’s iOS platform,” former Apple Senior Vice President Phil Schiller wrote in a declaration. Schiller, whose title is now Fellow, runs Apple’s App Store. 

Well, that’s going to cause all sorts of trouble for Epic Games.

Epic’s CEO Tim Sweeney shot back at this revelation via Twitter:

Apple's statement is misleading. You can read my email in Apple's filing, which is publicly available. I specifically said in Epic's request to the Apple execs, "We hope that Apple will also make these options equally available to all iOS developers…" https://t.co/yRio08fPSy pic.twitter.com/HsqjApFQeo

— Tim Sweeney (@TimSweeneyEpic) August 21, 2020

This has the smell of damage control to me. After all, they made a spoof of 1984 and acted like they were fighting for a higher purposed. But they were trying to negotiate a side deal. There’s a bit of irony in that.

I think that this will make people view Epic Games differently. Very differently.

This entry was posted on August 21, 2020 at 6:03 pm and is filed under Commentary with tags Epic Games. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.