TechCrunch reports that during a recent Y Combinator event, Epic Games CEO Tim Sweeney went on another tirade against Apple and Google, this time accusing both of being "gangster-style businesses." He claimed that Google and Apple maliciously comply with court rulings and "are no longer good-faith, law-abiding companies."
They’re run, in many ways, as gangster-style businesses that will do anything they think they can get away with. If they think that the fine is going to be cheaper than the lost revenue from an illegal practice, they always continue the illegal practice and pay the fine.
To recap, Epic Games, Apple, and Google have been at 'war' for several years now. This whole drama kicked off when Epic tried to bypass Apple and Google’s app store fees, and it’s only escalated from there. Here’s a quick timeline of the key moments in the conflict:
- June 2020: Epic Games starts criticizing Apple’s App Store policies, calling them monopolistic.
- August 2020: Epic introduces a direct payment system in Fortnite, giving players discounts and bypassing the app stores’ in-app purchase systems. Apple and Google don’t take kindly to that and remove Fortnite from both stores.
- August 14, 2020: Epic sues both Apple and Google for antitrust violations and releases a parody video, "Nineteen Eighty-Fortnite," mocking Apple’s 1984 ad.
- August 17, 2020: Apple threatens to shut down Epic’s developer accounts, which could mess with Epic’s Unreal Engine on Apple platforms. Epic gets a temporary restraining order, stopping Apple from doing so, but Fortnite stays off the App Store.
- September 2020: Apple countersues Epic, seeking damages for breaching contract and playing hardball with app store rules.
- December 2023: Epic wins a major legal victory against Google in court, with a jury finding Google’s Play Store practices illegal.
- October 2024: A judge orders Google to allow third-party app stores on Android and let developers use alternative payment systems, but Google announces it will appeal.
- February 2025: Google officially appeals, still trying to undo that jury verdict.
At the Y Combinator event, Sweeney spoke about practices from Apple and Google that he believes hurt his business. For example, on Android, if you try to install the Epic Games Store by sideloading the APK, Google warns you about installing software from unknown sources and the potential harm it could cause.
Sweeney calls the pop-up notifications that warn you when installing apps from unofficial sources "scare screens." According to him, despite the fact that Android and iOS in the EU allow users to sideload the Epic Games Store, the "scare screen" shown before sideloading leads to a significant portion of users (50%-60%) backing away and not installing the software.
Still on the topic of the Epic Games Store, another point Sweeney brought up was how Apple’s restrictions and fees make it nearly impossible for major game developers to distribute their games through Epic’s store on iOS.
Even though Apple technically allows third-party app stores, the friction involved and their so-called “core technology fee” of 50 cents per install per year for apps with over a million downloads keep big developers away.
Sweeney pointed out that unless a game makes a ton of money per user, this setup effectively kills any chance of free-to-play games thriving on iOS outside the App Store.
Image via Depositphotos.com
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