That might not put it on the same tier of software selection as a smartphone, but it does push it ever closer to the "general-purpose computer" space.
The Xbox One, to cite just one example, includes a a wide-ranging selection of non-game apps for functions like video on demand, music streaming, VoIP, email, and more.
EPIC VS APPLE NINTENDO PROFESSIONAL
As Epic puts it in its own FAQ, "mobile devices are essential computing devices upon which we conduct our social and professional lives and engage in commerce and entertainment." That FAQ compares the mobile marketplace only to "other general-purpose computing platforms, including Web, Windows, and Mac." Consoles don't fit in that same "general purpose" framework, it seems.īut that's an increasingly outdated view of what consoles can do.
Some might argue that software restrictions on consoles are less impactful because the hardware is only designed to play games. What's the difference? Splitting the difference But in the world of mobile phones, companies like Epic are increasingly and publicly lambasting similar restrictions as anti-competitive monopolistic practices. When companies like Tengen tried to get around this restriction, Nintendo took them to court and won, cementing its right to Apple-style control of its own software marketplace.ĭecades later, this kind of absolute control over compatible software is treated as the de facto standard in the console space. To prevent history from repeating itself, Nintendo created a lockout chip for the NES that gave it effective control over what cartridges could run on its hardware (and gave it the capability to extract a licensing fee from game developers for the privilege of producing cartridges). Yet Google has earned a lawsuit for its role in this state of affairs, while the console makers have remained undisturbed. In this sense, consoles are even more restrictive than Android, where games and apps ( including Fortnite) can be sideloaded without using the Google Play Store. When it comes to iOS, Epic says that "by blocking consumer choice in software installation, Apple has created a problem so they can profit from the solution." When it comes to consoles, Epic is silent about the same state of affairs.
EPIC VS APPLE NINTENDO FULL
The major console makers also all exercise full control over what games and apps can appear in their own walled gardens. On mobile platforms, Epic is calling the same kind of 30-percent fee "exorbitant" and says it wants to offer a more direct payment solution so it can "pass along the savings to players." On consoles, though, Epic happily introduced a permanent 20-percent discount on all microtransaction purchases, despite there being no sign that the console makers have changed their fee structure. Microsoft saw a 39-percent increase in gaming revenue the quarter after Fortnite was released, too, coyly attributing the bump to "third-party title strength." And the Switch saw similar post-Fortnite digital revenue increases after Nintendo announced that fully half of all Switch owners had downloaded Fortnite. "Add-on content" was a full 41 percent of Sony's Game and Network revenue in the latest completed fiscal quarter. This DLC fee represents a big chunk of those console makers' revenues, too. All three console makers also take a 30-percent cut of all microtransaction sales on their platforms, for example. Most if not all of the complaints Epic makes against Apple and Google seem to apply to Microsoft, Sony, and Nintendo in the console space as well.
We're speaking, of course, about video game consoles. That move came alongside a heavy-handed PR blitz, including a video asking players to "join the fight to stop 2020 from becoming '1984.'"īut through this entire public fight for "open mobile platforms," as Epic puts it, there is one major set of closed platforms that the company seems happy to continue doing business with. Then, when Fortnite was predictably removed from both platforms, Epic filed lawsuits against both companies, alleging "anti-competitive restraints and monopolistic practices" in the mobile app marketplace. First it added a discounted "Epic Direct Payment" option alongside the standard iOS App Store and Google Play payment options in Fortnite, in direct violation of those stores' policies. Further Reading Epic files suit against Apple after Fortnite pulled from iOS App Store Yesterday, Epic used Fortnite to essentially wage open war against Apple's and Google's mobile app marketplaces.
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