Epic Games CEO Tim Sweeney slammed Apple and Google during his recent talk at a Y Combinator event, calling them “gangster-style businesses” engaged in illegal practices. Sweeney, whose company is behind Fortnite and the Unreal Engine, explained how Apple and Google’s actions make it hard for users to install Epic’s software.
“The sad truth is that Apple and Google are no longer good-faith, law-abiding companies,” Sweeney said, according to TechCrunch. “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.”
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Sweeney also described how Android phones show a warning message when users try to install the Epic Games Store, making it look unsafe. This causes 50-60 percent of users to stop installing. Similarly, a significant drop-off rate is also found on iOS. In Europe, while the Epic Games Store is permitted due to new regulations, Apple displays a warning to users attempting to install it, resulting in a 50-60 percent drop-off rate, according to Sweeney.
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Epic Games CEO described the use of these warning screens as “textbook self-preferencing.” “Crime pays for big tech companies,” he said. “Obviously, we shouldn’t expect that to change until enforcement becomes much, much more vigorous.”
He also criticised Apple’s “core technology fee” of 50 cents per install per year for any app with more than 1 million downloads.
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