With the current war being waged by Epic Games against Apple, I sat down and thought about a few benefits and disadvantages that could improve or harm devs if the outcome is in favor of Epic Games.
According to Epic, Apple's system of taking 30% of revenue hurts devs, while Apple believes it improves their products. I'm with Epic on this point. Apple makes billions over multiple streams of income. They offer various subscriptions and require developers to pay yearly for licenses. Unlike Google, where you pay a one-time fee and 30%, Apple requires $99 per year and 30%.
It's understandable, though not entirely likeable, that Google takes 30% of revenue even though they are also a tech giant. The reason it's more understandable is because there is only a one-time fee for Google. It's easier to get back your one-time payment of $25 with 30% taken from income, than to get $99 per year with 30% taken from income.
Apple holds a proprietary system, so they are eligible to (mostly) do whatever they want with it. Revoking Epic licenses was wrong to do and could've hurt the reputation and devs using Unreal Engine. Apple was willing to hurt an entire industry that uses Unreal to attack Epic. The industry includes people all over the world using Unreal for jobs to feed themselves and their families. It was one thing to remove Fortnite (source of income for Epic Games), another to attack the Unreal Engine itself (a source of income for many devs outside Epic Games).
Here's my take:
I believe 20% should be the new standard for major companies, especially Apple. I don't believe Apple should be forced to allow other app stores into their app market (something Epic wants to do). I think it was wrong that Apple decided to attack Epic Games and the people using their services (Unreal Engine), not just Epic Games with Fortnite only. I also think that both stores should implement a system where 3.0 (and below) rated apps are sent notices saying to update the app to a newer version to get a higher rating or risk the app being taken down.
Top comments (1)
Nice article, although I don't think Epic's entirely innocent. They knew what they were gonna get and they did. But, I do agree with the 20% tax and how it affects Unreal Engine's development. ^^