Préférez-vous combattre 99 petits adversaires ou deux vraiment, vraiment gros? Jeudi, Fortnite l’éditeur Epic Games s’est retrouvé mêlé à une dispute avec les deux Pomme et Google sur les frais, les géants de la technologie facturent les développeurs dans leurs magasins d’applications respectifs.

Longue histoire courte: Fortnite a été lancé à la fois sur l’App Store et le Google Play Store après avoir tenté de contourner le 30% de frais Apple et Google facturent les développeurs. C’est une énorme nouvelle, puisque le jeu a été téléchargé plus de 250 millions de fois sur iOS uniquement.

Epic contré par intenter des poursuites contre les deux sociétés. Ce n’est pas chercher de l’argent auprès de l’une ou l’autre entreprise, mais simplement qu’ils abrogent ce qu’Epic considère comme les pratiques monopolistiques des entreprises. Et cela arrive à un moment où l’Europe et les États-Unis sont scrutant la puissance d’Apple, de Google et d’autres géants de la technologie.

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Why did this happen?

Fortnite is a free-to-play game, meaning it’s free to download and Epic makes money from in-game purchases. Players can buy V-Bucks, in-game currency, which are used to buy new outfits, weapons and skins. It’s a hugely profitable business model. Fortnite generated $4.2 billion over 2018 and 2019.

But Epic has never approved of the 30% cut taken by Apple and Google on their respective app stories, so it set up a direct payment system allowing players to buy V-Bucks for cheaper through Epic, circumventing Apple and Google. When buying 1,000 V-Bucks, players were given a choice over paying $9.99 via the App Store or $7.99 through Epic.

Apple wasn’t having that, so it pulled Fortnite from the App Store. Google followed hours later, although Android gamers can still download the game directly through Epic — and if you previously downloaded it on iOS, you can still re-download it (you just won’t be able to update it or play new seasons). 

And now Epic is suing Apple?

It sure is.

Epic on Thursday filed a lawsuit against Apple in the North District of California court accusing Apple of anti-competitive practices for app distribution and app-related payments. It stresses it’s not looking for compensation or special treatment from Apple, but for Apple to roll-back its anti-competitive practices and allow for « fair competition. » 

« To reach iOS users, » reads Epic’s filing, « Apple forces developers to agree to Apple’s unlawful terms contained in its Developer Agreement and to comply with Apple’s App Store Review Guidelines, including the requirement iOS developers distribute their apps through the App Store. These contractual provision unlawfully foreclose the iOS App Distribution Market to competitors and maintain Apple’s monopoly. »

The filing argues that Apple, in charging a 30% fee to publishers, take 10x more than companies like « PayPal, Stripe, Square or Braintree, which typically charge payment processing rates of around 3%. » 

Apple’s full reply, in which they said the App Store is an ecosystem that benefits developers and creates a level playing field, is below.

« Epic Games took the unfortunate step of violating the App Store guidelines that are applied equally to every developer and designed to keep the store safe for our users. As a result their Fortnite app has been removed from the store. Epic enabled a feature in its app which was not reviewed or approved by Apple, and they did so with the express intent of violating the App Store guidelines regarding in-app payments that apply to every developer who sells digital goods or services.

Epic has had apps on the App Store for a decade, and has benefited from the App Store ecosystem – including the tools, testing, and distribution Apple provides to all developers. Epic agreed to the App Store terms and guidelines freely and we’re glad they’ve built such a successful business on the App Store. The fact that their business interests now lead them to push for a special arrangement does not change the fact that these guidelines create a level playing field for all developers and make the store safe for all users. We will make every effort to work with Epic to resolve these violations so they can return Fortnite to the App Store. »

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The suit escalated on Aug. 17, when Epic said in a court filing that Apple is threatening to ban the Unreal Engine code that Epic licenses to other game developers. This would affect dozens of apps, including Fortnite’s competitor PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds.

« Not content simply to remove Fortnite from the App Store, Apple is attacking Epic’s entire business in unrelated areas, » Epic said in its filing. « If the Unreal Engine can no longer support Apple platforms, the software developers that use it will be forced to use alternatives. »  

Apple fired back on Friday, Aug. 21, releasing a cache of emails between Epic CEO Tim Sweeney and Apple, showing that the Fortnite maker was seeking special treatment. Specifically, Epic wanted to run a competing app store and process payments itself rather than relying on Apple’s App Store and its in-app purchase system that takes a commission of up to 30% on all sales made on an iOS app.

« Sweeney expressly acknowledged that his proposed changes would be in direct breach of multiple terms of the agreements between Epic and Apple. Mr. Sweeney acknowledged that Epic could not implement its proposal unless the agreements between Epic and Apple were modified, » Phil Schiller, an Apple Fellow and former head of worldwide marketing, said in a statement filed with the court. « Apple has never allowed this, » Apple said in its filing. « We strongly believe these rules are vital to the health of the Apple platform and carry enormous benefits for both consumers and developers. »

Wait, what does this have to do with George Orwell?

Along with the lawsuit, Epic also released a video parodying Apple’s famous 1984 ad. Apple’s ad, released back in late 1983, promoted the upcoming launch of the Macintosh, railing against then-entrenched brand IBM. Epic’s video says Apple has become the new Big Brother of industry — a hugely powerful and overbearing entity.

This is something that Epic expounds more aggressively in its suit. « Apple has become what it once railed against: The behemoth seeking to control markets, block competition, and stifle innovation. Apple is bigger, more powerful, more entrenched, and more pernicious than the monopolists of yesteryear. At a market cap of nearly $2 trillion, Apple’s size and reach far exceeds that of any technology monopolist in history. »

Damn.

What about Google?

Epic is suing Google, too. Epic followed its lawsuit against Apple hours later with a similar one against Google. Its basis is the same as Apple’s: unlawfully anti-competitive practices related to app distribution, and app-related payments. 

« Google acquired the Android mobile operating system more than a decade ago, promising repeatedly over time that Android would be the basis for an « open » ecosystem in which industry participants could freely innovate and compete without unnecessary restrictions, » the filing reads. « Since then, Google has deliberately and systematically closed the Android ecosystem to competition, breaking the promises it made. Google’s anti-competitive conduct has now been condemned by regulators the world over. »

The suit argues that Android forms an effective monopoly for phone makers, like Samsung, LG and Sony, who have no real alternative to Android for their devices. Having achieved this monopoly, Epic says, Google then restricts the ability of companies to distribute apps in a way that competes with the Play Store.

« Epic’s experience with one [phone maker], OnePlus, est illustratif « , lit-on dans le costume. » Epic a conclu un accord avec OnePlus pour rendre les jeux Epic disponibles sur son Téléphone (s via une application Epic Games. L’application Epic Games aurait permis aux utilisateurs d’installer et de mettre à jour de manière transparente les jeux Epic, y compris Fortnite, sans obstacles imposés par le système d’exploitation Android de Google. Mais Google a forcé OnePlus à renoncer à l’accord, invoquant la «préoccupation particulière» de Google à propos d’Epic d’avoir la capacité d’installer et de mettre à jour des jeux mobiles tout en «contournant le Google Play Store».

Comme le costume Apple, Epic dit qu’il ne veut pas de paiement de Google. « Au lieu de cela, Epic demande une injonction qui tiendrait compte de la promesse non tenue de Google: un écosystème Android ouvert et compétitif pour tous les utilisateurs et les participants de l’industrie. Une telle injonction est cruellement nécessaire. »

Avant qu’Epic ne porte plainte contre Google, Google a publié la déclaration suivante sur sa décision de retirer Fortnite du Play Store,

«L’écosystème Android ouvert permet aux développeurs de distribuer des applications via plusieurs magasins d’applications. Pour les développeurs de jeux qui choisissent d’utiliser le Play Store, nous avons des politiques cohérentes qui sont équitables pour les développeurs et assurent la sécurité du magasin pour les utilisateurs. Bien que Fortnite reste disponible sur Android, nous ne peut plus le rendre disponible sur Play, car il enfreint nos règles. Cependant, nous sommes heureux de pouvoir poursuivre nos discussions avec Epic et ramener Fortnite sur Google Play. « 

Que pensent les autres entreprises?

Epic est loin d’être le premier à se plaindre des pratiques anticoncurrentielles de Google et d’Apple.

En 2018, l’Union européenne condamne Google à une amende de 5 milliards de dollars pour un comportement monopolistique, qui comprenait la suite d’applications de Google, comme Chrome et Gmail, préinstallée sur tous les appareils Android. Spotify l’année dernière a affirmé qu’Apple facturait 30% pour les achats intégrés, tels que les abonnements à Spotify Premium, étouffer la concurrence avec les propres applications d’Apple, dans ce cas Musique Apple. En juin, l’UE a lancé une enquête sur les pratiques de l’App Store d’Apple.

Alors que l’Union européenne a été plus énergique dans la réglementation des titans de la technologie au cours de la dernière décennie, les États-Unis commencent à scruter ces entreprises géantes de la même manière. Fin juillet, le PDG d’Apple Tim Cook a participé à une audience du Congrès aux côtés de Jeff Bezos, Sundar Pichai et Mark Zuckerberg, PDG de Amazone, Alphabet propriétaire de Google et Facebook respectivement, lors d’une audience antitrust historique.

S’adressant au Congrès, Cook a rejeté l’idée que l’App Store penche en faveur des propres applications d’Apple.

«Après avoir commencé avec 500 applications, l’App Store en héberge aujourd’hui plus de 1,7 million, dont seulement 60 sont des logiciels Apple», a déclaré Cook. « De toute évidence, si Apple est un gardien, ce que nous avons fait est d’ouvrir la porte plus large. Nous voulons obtenir toutes les applications que nous pouvons sur le magasin, pas les empêcher. »

Ian Sherr de CNET a contribué à ce rapport.