Any time a bunch of multi-billion dollar companies want to get together and start slap-fighting over digital rights and percentage cuts, it’s difficult not to be pleased.
Hopefully, they all drain themselves of everything and we move forward without them. More than likely, they won’t, and some bizarre new legislation will be reached (by old men that don’t understand technology in the slightest) that oversteps boundaries and has untold consequences for generations to come.
That’s the legal process, baby.
Epic Games versus Apple has continued to escalate as they bicker about whether or not Apple charging a cut of in-app purchases is legal; the result of this battle will likely have snowballing effects that bleed into Steam and app stores around the world.
But Epic Games doesn’t want to have to pay the standard cut, and they have the money to take a legal battle against another massive corporation that has a stranglehold. Yesterday, Apple fired back against Epic Games suit by claiming that Epic had sought advantages simply for owning the Fortnite IP, which Tim Sweeney clapped back with the legendary ‘nuh-uh’.
[embed]https://twitter.com/TimSweeneyEpic/status/1296918541627793411?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw[/embed]It appears that Apple is talking about the past, while Tim Sweeney is discussing the litigation, but that’s speculation that lawyers will get to bicker about.
What we’re interested in within this piece is how Epic is clearly attempting to weaponize their fanbase for pressure against Apple with their newest #FreeFortnite Cup that they’re inviting everyone to play with, as it’s the last time everyone will be able to play together. It’s like every preteen in the world has just had their soul crushed, if you listen closely.
The newest form of propaganda from Epic sent to Fortnite players is as follows:
Never mind the idea that Epic could pause deployments until the legal battle is over, ensuring everyone can play with each other (which they clearly are desperate for, and despondent that it must come to this) Epic is forced to update because they willingly and knowingly broke the agreements of Apple’s terms of service to begin this entire circus that shows what billions of dollars really lets people do.
Anyone capable of nuanced thought would understand this, which is why Epic appears to be targeting the younger demographic to help mount pressure against Apple; some have theorized that the legal battle itself wasn’t crafted with the idea of victory and that Epic is just attempting to leverage their fanbase to receive special treatment from Apple while a court case drags ever-onwards.
There are no publically available documents that readily support that opinion, however. That Epic is attempting to leverage its fanbase against Apple, however, is a far more difficult proposition to fight with the pre-produced videos and newsletters.