“Don’t Hate The Game, Hate The Players”- Epic Games CEO on Apple’s Policies

Epic Games’ lawsuit against Apple shook the entire tech industry. Epic, a giant in the gaming industry, has raised its voice against the alleged monopolistic practices of Apple. It all started with the removal of Fortnite from the App Store. But Epic was ready with its retaliation and served Apple with a lawsuit at once.

The manner in which all this panned out suggests it was a planned move on Tim Sweeney’s part. While that may or may not be true, Epic’s CEO is adamant that this fight is not against Apple but rather its policies and practices.

Epic Games CEO Tim Sweeney’s response

‘Flamingo Digital Games’ recently tweeted saying,

This prompted Sweeney to respond explaining his stance.

“I’m fighting Apple policies while tweeting on iPhone. Don’t hate the players, hate the game. Apple made a storefront where developers have to bid against each other for searches for our own brands, while blocking other stores from competing with them, all ‘to protect customers’.

”If we don’t fight for our rights where we stand, we’ll eventually run out of places to retreat to, and by then we’ll be too weak and divided to win. This is why developers need to fight the store monopolies HERE and NOW!”

Also Read: Epic Games vs Apple and Google: Lawyer Shares Thoughts On Lawsuit

Tim’s stance on this is absolutely clear and he does put forth a valid point. He has also sued Google for similar reasons. On the surface may seem that the fight is about the 30% cut that Apple and Google levy on transactions, but is much more far-reaching.

Many are unhappy about the alleged monopoly created by Apple and Google and hence are standing with Epic. Recently,  Spotify called Apple out too for promoting its own Apple Music instead of Spotify. Netflix and Tinder have expressed similar concerns regarding the same.

It looks like Tim has a lot of allies in this fight against two of the biggest tech conglomerates on Earth. Even Gabe Newell, the founder of Steam, has called Apple out for its monopolistic policies.

This lawsuit is reminiscent of the 1998 Microsoft antitrust lawsuit where Microsoft ended up settling the case. As things stand, there is no certainty about the outcome of this case. But we’ve said it before and we’ll say it again, this will change the tech industry forever.