Epic Games - page 2

Epic Games makes solid arguments that Apple is a monopoly

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Monopoly board game
Maybe Apple really is a monopoly.
Photo: Kathy Marsh/Unsplash CC

At the core of Epic Games’ lawsuit against Apple is the assertion that the iPhone-maker has a monopoly. With testimony from an expert witness, the game developer has begun laying out its arguments to convince the judge why she should agree.

Essentially, it claims that switching from iPhone to another device is so difficult that Apple can treat its users as if they had no other options.

Why Apple needs to ramp up its app review team

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Trust in the App Store is critical to the success of the iPhone.
Confidence in the App Store is so critical to the success of the iPhone that Apple needs to stop handling app review with an inadequate staff.
Graphic: Apple

The process for checking applications submitted to the App Store became the major focus of the Epic Games v. Apple court battle Friday. An important detail that came to light is that Apple employs 500 human experts checking submissions.

Epic Games used Friday’s trial testimony to bring to light fraudulent or inappropriate apps that slipped past Apple’s review team and onto the App Store. Fortunately, the problem is fixable: Put more people on the job. Double or triple the number.

Apple rejects more than a third of App Store submissions

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App Store icon
Literally millions of iPhone and iPad applications are submitted to the App Store every year. Each has to be reviewed.
Photo: PhotoAtelier/Flickr

In testimony on Thursday in the Epic Games v. Apple trial, Trystan Kosmynka, the senior director for the App Store review process, confirmed that around 5 million appications are submitted to the software store per year. And roughly 35% are rejected.

Read Epic Games’ reasonable idea for opening up the App Store

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App Store
The CEO of Epic Games had an idea for making the App Store more open. It’s likely to find some support.
Photo: Ed Hardy/Cult of Mac

Epic Games suggested a change to the iPhone App Store that, if Apple had followed it, might have prevented the lawsuit that landed the two tech giants in court this week.

The game developer recommended that Apple continue to police third-party software, looking for malware, privacy violations, etc. But once the iPhone-maker signed off on an app, it would be up to the developer how the software got distributed.

Insider emails reveal why Apple never made iMessage for Android

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Court filings show why Apple didn't port iMessage to Android.
The green bubble mystery is solved!
Photo: Alexander Shatov/Unsplash CC

Now we know why Apple never brought iMessage to Android, despite the fact that doing so could have made it a ubiquitous messaging app like WhatsApp.

In a court filing for the company’s ongoing legal battle with Fortnite-maker Epic Games, internal emails showcase exactly why Apple execs made the decision they did. And, yes, it’s probably for the reason you guessed!

Apple says Epic’s legal challenge is all about reviving interest in Fortnite

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Epic Games mocked Apple with a ‘1984’ parody.
Epic has been battling with Apple since last summer.
Screenshot: Epic Games

Epic Games’ lawsuit against Apple is less about App Store rules and more about reviving “flagging interest in Fortnite,” according to a court document filed Thursday by Cupertino’s lawyers.

In a court filing with the US District Court on Thursday, Apple argues that Epic just wants “to free-ride on Apple’s innovation” by being allowed in the App Store without having to pay Apple a cut of earnings.

Fortnite maker complains about Apple to UK regulator

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Epic Games mocked Apple with a ‘1984’ parody.
Epic Games vs. Apple has been raging since last summer.
Screenshot: Epic Games

The battle between Apple and Fortnite maker Epic Games rages on as the latter has filed a complaint with the UK’s competition regulator, complaining about Apple’s alleged anticompetitive behavior.

The UK Competition and Markets Authority earlier this month revealed that it had opened an investigation of Apple. This followed complaints from app developers that its conditions are not fair. Now Epic is chiming in to add its support to the complaint.

Apple says it doesn’t have Scott Forstall’s phone number

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Scott Forstall 2
Scott Forstall left Apple in 2012 after the Apple Maps debacle.
Photo: Philosophy Talk

It wasn’t all that long ago that Scott Forstall, Apple’s former SVP of iOS software, was being talked about as a possible CEO successor to Steve Jobs. Then came the disastrous Apple Maps launch in 2012, and Forstall’s subsequent departure from the company.

Forstall has shown up a couple of times since then, but otherwise maintained a low profile. Now, as unearthed by the Epic Games v. Apple lawsuit, the Cupertino company says it doesn’t even have a current phone number for Forstall — only a Twitter account and P.O. Box reference.

Tim Cook faces 7-hour grilling in Apple vs. Epic legal battle

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Tim Cook goes to Washington
Tim Cook will chime in on Apple vs. Epic Games case.
Screenshot: Apple

Apple CEO Tim Cook must participate in a seven-hour deposition during his company’s upcoming legal battle with Epic Games. Epic reportedly wanted Cook for eight hours, while Apple lawyers tried to whittle it down to four hours.

Seven hours is the compromise that was ultimately ruled on by Judge Thomas S. Hixon.

Epic and Samsung join forces to taunt Apple

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Epic Games mocked Apple with a ‘1984’ parody.
Epic continues to take shots at Apple. Now it's got a partner.
Screenshot: Epic Games

Fortnite maker Epic Games continues to take shots at Apple — teaming with Samsung to send a gift bag to online influencers containing a “Free Fortnite” custom jacket with Apple-inspired logo, some suspiciously Apple-looking packaging, and a Galaxy Tab S7.

The note inside reads:

Facebook supports Fortnite maker in battle against Apple’s ‘unfair policies’

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Epic Games mocked Apple with a ‘1984’ parody.
Epic and Facebook have an.enemy they can both agree to dislike.
Screenshot: Epic Games

Facebook is supporting Fortnite maker Epic Games in its lawsuit against Apple, marking another low in the relationship between the two tech giants.

According to Steve Satterfield, a director of privacy and public policy at Facebook, the social network company thinks that it is, “really important that the court understand far reaching impact of Apple’s unfair policies.”

Judge dismisses Apple’s theft claims against Epic Games

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Apple's theft claim against Epic Games dismissed
Fortnite is still blocked from the App Store for now.
Photo: Epic Games

Apple’s two theft claims against Epic Games were on Tuesday dismissed by a federal judge in California.

Epic filed the counterclaims filed in September, just weeks after the game-maker sued Apple for alleged anti-competitive actions. Cupertino removed Fortnite, the hugely popular battle royale game, from the App Store after Epic gave players on iOS devices the ability to purchase in-game currency outside of Apple’s ecosystem.

Apple battle with Epic Games goes to court next May

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Epic Games v. Apple gets serious next spring.
A fight between Epic Games and Apple gets real next May.
Graphic: Cult of Mac

A court case to decide the fate of Fortnite on Apple devices will kick off May 3, 2021. But the arguments Epic Games and Apple will take before a judge are about more than a single game, albeit a very popular one. The court’s decision might have far-reaching implications for the iPhone App Store and Apple’s business.

Epic Games vs. Apple battle could end in a jury trial

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iPhone with gavel.
The verdict may be in the hands of the people.
Photo: Tingey Injury Law Firm/Cult of Mac

The Apple vs. Epic Games antitrust lawsuit could come down to jurors to decide. According to a Monday report from Bloomberg, the federal judge overseeing the case has said that a jury trial could ultimately turn out to be the best way to resolve the case.

While U.S. District Judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers of Oakland, California has not yet ordered such a case, she indicated that it might be a scenario where jurors are the ones best equipped to decide an outcome.

Apple: Epic wanted a fight to revive declining interest in Fortnite

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Epic Games mocked Apple with a ‘1984’ parody.
Fortnite maker Epic and Apple have been battling since August.
Screenshot: Epic Games

Apple likens Epic Games’ current predicament, shut out of the App Store, to the company having “started a fire, and poured gasoline on it,” and now requesting help from the court to put it out.

Apple’s lawyers are referencing Fortnite maker Epic’s recent claims that it is suffering major harm by being blocked from the App Store. Then Apple really puts the boot in.

Fortnite-maker says ‘Sign in with Apple’ logins will continue to work

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Sign in with Apple
Epic Games says login feature won't disappear after all.
Photo: Apple

Fortnite developer Epic Games say Apple issued it an “indefinite extension” for use of the “Sign in with Apple” API.

Epic previously said Apple would stop it offering this feature, meaning that people who signed up using the Apple login service would have been unable to access their Epic Games accounts.

PUBG Mobile surpasses $3.5 billion in player spending, most of it on iOS

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PUBG Mobile
PUBG is having a great year.
Screenshot: Killian Bell/Cult of Mac

While Epic, the makers of battle royale game Fortnite, wage war against Apple, rival title PUBG Mobile goes from strength to strength in terms of player spending.

According to app analytics platform Sensor Tower, PUBG has just passed a major milestone: surpassing $3.5 billion in lifetime spending. Of that, $500 million comes in the past 72 days alone while people were stuck home during coronavirus-induced lockdown.

Act now to save your Fortnite account if you use ‘Sign in with Apple’

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Fortnite on iPad with SteelSeries Nimbus
Don't let yours disappear.
Photo: Killian Bell/Cult of Mac

Epic Games’ ongoing battle with Apple has made it so that you will no longer be able to log into your Fortnite account using “Sign in with Apple” from September 11, 2020. If you don’t save your account today, you could lose access to the game — and all your data.

Fortunately, salvaging your account is simple, and it only takes a couple minutes. We’ll show you how.

Apple requests punitive damages in court battle with Epic Games

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Epic Games v. Apple is just getting started
The gloves just came off in Epic Games v. Apple.
Graphic: Epic Games/Cult of Mac

The Epic Games v. Apple fight got a bit uglier on Tuesday. For the first time, the iPhone-maker asked that Epic Games pay damages for breach of contract. The two companies are arguing over whether Apple has the right to 30% of in-app purchases in the wildly-successful game Fortnite.

Fortnite-maker says it will suffer ‘irreparable harm’ if Apple doesn’t let game back in App Store

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Epic Games mocked Apple with a ‘1984’ parody.
The Epic Games vs. Apple battle rages on.
Screenshot: Epic Games

In the latest development in Epic Games’ battle with Apple, the Fortnite-maker requested that a court require Apple to return the game to the App Store and restore Epic’s developer account.

Lawyers for the company argue that Epic is “likely to suffer irreparable harm” if this is not done.

Director of Apple’s classic 1984 ad is unimpressed with Epic Games’ parody

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Epic Games mocked Apple with a ‘1984’ parody.
Ridley Scott isn’t impressed with Epic Games’ Nineteen Eighty-Fortnite parody.
Screenshot: Epic Games

Ridley Scott, who directed Apple’s famous 1984 Super Bowl TV advertisement, is less than pleased with the parody version Epic Games released last month.

The original ad introduced the Apple Macintosh to the world. Epic Games’ version seeks to portray itself as the underdog in a legal fight with Apple over App Store policies.