Game-maker Epic Games’ CEO, Tim Sweeney, is continuing his attack on tech giants Google and Apple for their market dominance. He has now participated in a Global conference in Seoul, South Korea, regarding app store fairness, and he had a lot to say on Apple and Google, reports Bloomberg.
Epic’s CEO Tim Sweeney says Apple must be stopped and calls Google crazy
During the Global Conference for Mobile Application Ecosystem Fairness in Seoul, South Korea, Tim Sweeney had a lot to stay on the app store practices both tech giants have. He stated that Apple has locked a billion users into one store and payment system. Additionally, he claimed Apple “must be stopped”, adding that it has now complied with oppressive foreign laws, but is ignoring laws passed by South Korea’s democracy. But it’s not only Apple that Tim Sweeney talked about during the conference. He also criticized Google and called the tech giant’s approach to charging fees on payments it doesn’t process “crazy”. Additionally, Epic Games’ CEO and founder praised South Korea for its work on fighting anti-competitive practices and specifically, for its recent legislation.
He stated he is proud to work against the monopolies with South Korea.
On the other hand, Google spokesman Dan Jackson emailed response to Tim Sweeney’s criticisms in regards to the search giant’s practices. He stated that the Google Play Store service fee has never been “simply for payment processing”. He added that this is how the company provides Android and Google Play for free. Additionally, it allows the tech giant to invest in security services, distribution, and development that helps developers and customers in South Korea and around the world.
For the moment, Apple has not commented on Tim Sweeney’s criticisms that were raised during the conference.
Epic has been battling Apple and Google for a long time
This is not the first time Epic Games has expressed its concerns and criticized the two tech giants. In fact, the game-maker has been in a relentless fight against the two companies for over a year now. It all started back last year when Epic Games included a link to an alternative payment system in its popular mobile game Fortnite.
This action was found to be breaching the terms of the developer’s contract with both Apple and Google. Cupertino quickly removed the game from the App Store, and no longer after, Fortnite was also removed from the Play Store. Actually, the app was found to be breaching the contract because both app stores take a 30% fee on purchases, and Epic tried to bypass this rule with an alternative payment system in Fortnite.
In response to the accusations, both companies had stated that these fees taken on purchases via their respective app stores have been put in place for the security of users and because these mobile marketplaces help provide a global audience for developers. However, Tim Sweeney sees these practices as anathema to the founding principles of the internet. He has claimed these policies are so restrictive that “if the worldwide web had been embedded after the smartphone, then Apple and Google would have blocked all web browsers from being released on their platforms.”
For PC Games, the game-maker has its own Epic Games Store, and it also charges a platform fee, though it is a lower one. Sweeney isn’t against the fact that Google and Apple have the right to profit from their work, he states that it is crucial for antitrust organizations to not allow a monopolist in one market to use their control to that market and then impose it over unrelated markets.
