'Apple runs the most manipulative business in the world': Fortnite CEO cracks down on tech giant's unfair practices

As you might have heard by now, Apple and Google have banned Fortnite from their app stores for the time being. The issue was that Epic Games had given users two ways to buy Fortnite content. Players could choose to make a direct payment to Epic, or make a normal one via the app store.

Google and Apple levy a fee of around 30% on every transaction, and choosing the direct payment method allowed users to save up to 20% of their money. For example, you could buy a 1000 V-bucks for $7.99 (599 INR) if you used the direct method, while otherwise, the same would be available for $9.99 (749 INR).

The battle between Apple and Fortnite has just gotten bigger! (Image Credits: esportznetwork.com)

Of course, while the move comes as a surprise to many, Fortnite's developers have hinted in the past that they aren’t too fond of the way Apple conducts its business. We look at a recent Tim Sweeney (CEO/Founder, Epic Games) interview, in which he accused Apple of having one of the most ‘manipulative businesses’ in the world.

Fortnite CEO cracks down on tech giant's unfair practices

In the video that you can see at the end of the article, we see Sweeney talk about Apple. According to him, the tech giant is probably the most profitable hardware business in history. He then went on to talk about the high fees that Apple charges the developers.

Tim Sweeney, the CEO of Fortnite's developers, Epic Games (Image Credits: hollywoodreporter.com)

He said that Apple made it clear that other platforms cannot exist, and that every payment made to the developer can only go through them. Sweeney added that the high fees would have been justified if Apple had created a platform which promotes free competition among app developers. However, that is not true.

Image Credits: androidpolice.com

Tim went to talk about the Android marketplace, and said that it is more of a fake ‘open platform’. This is because all the services that you can access are part of a big Google bundle that customers don’t have a choice but to take. He also noted that both the giants are guilty of locking up their store, and not allowing customers to download other stores that can be used to make software purchases.

Towards the end, he talked about the benefits of having a more open system, where users can download other stores. He explained that downloading games such as Fortnite can be an extremely tedious affair on the current app stores. Furthermore, every time the game releases an update, users have to go through the same process again. According to Sweeney, having a more open platform can easily solve these issues.

As you can see, Epic Games’ CEO had quite a few thoughts about Apples business practices, and did not shy away from criticizing them! You can watch the entire video below. The relevant segment begins around the 22-minute mark.