The past few days have continued to bring disheartening news for iOS gamers. Citing its unforgiving criteria to be offered on the exclusive App Store, Apple has banned Fortnite from its mobile storefront for trying to work around the corporation’s in-app purchase policy. While Epic Games has responded by filing a lawsuit, other companies and even government officials have offered their input on the situation.
However, the level of scrutiny Apple faces should come as no surprise. In recent months, the technology giant has drawn the ire of major rivals like Microsoft by blocking xCloud from the App Store. Currently, Apple receives a 30% commission from any in-app transaction. In its recent legal actions, Epic has accused this policy of being restrictive. Now, a Facebook exec is chiming in with its own criticisms of Apple’s in-app purchase.
In a Facebook app update, Facebook’s mobile app head, Fidji Simo, was updating users about the details surrounding a new function that allows people to create and monetize online events. After outlining the new feature, Facebook pledged to waive any fees or commissions it would normally receive for the next year to help any small businesses keep their revenue.
However, while this promise applies to desktop and Android/Facebook Pay transactions, the Facebook mobile app head blamed Apple for refusing to reduce its 30% App Store cut, and noted that small businesses would only get 70% of the iOS revenue. In a follow-up interview with Bloomberg, Simo restated that Facebook “strongly suggested” that Apple waive the fee for Facebook users and small businesses in need and that it rejected the request. Although the Facebook app head claimed Apple was a valued “partner,” the company still disapproves of the so-called “app tax” and hope that by publicly shaming the company, Apple will eventually waive the 30% commission.
While Facebook claims to be acting for the sake of the common users, one should note that the company may have a personal stake in attacking Apple. Recently, the App Store misclassified the Facebook Gaming iOS app as a program to play games rather than stream them due to its instant minigames. When the company refused to cooperate with Facebook’s appeal, it had to remove the gaming features.
While Apple’s policies and lack of cooperation are arguably unreasonable, it is important to note that Facebook and Epic are not necessarily only working for the good of their customers. These are still massive corporations with their own self-interests. While this conflict between Apple and other corporations continues to heat up, players and customers will have to wait and see if the legal verdicts will actually end up benefiting them.
Source: Facebook, Bloomberg
