Here are Apple’s and Epic’s full slideshows arguing why they should win at trial
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Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge
Both Apple and Epic have released their opening presentations on why they feel they should win this week’s trial, which is set to determine the future of the App Store. In the documents, which you can look through below, each company lays out its case.
The lawsuit started when Apple removed Epic Games’
Fortnite from the App Store after Epic bypassed Apple’s system for in-app purchases. But it’s turned into a much deeper examination of Apple’s walled-garden approach to technology, and whether some of the walls the company puts up might violate antitrust law.
Ever since it was launched in 2008, the Apple App Store has been the sole gatekeeper between apps and iPhones and iPads. Other platforms, such as Google's Android, allow apps to be downloaded through third-party app stores. For any developers who want on to Apple's mobile devices, though, the choice is simple it's the App Store or nothing.
Epic Games Is Losing An Absurd Amount Of Money On Exclusive Games
The company appears set to lose around $300 million to pay for Epic Games Store exclusives.
Epic Games seems to understand that, given Steam s massive user-base, the only way it can be a viable competitor is to have games that aren t available on Valve s service. Exclusivity deals with third-party companies cost money, and it looks like Epic Games is losing a huge amount of money to make those exclusives happen.
As spotted by PC Gamer, despite paying approximately $444 million for minimum guarantees on third-party games for the Epic Games Store in 2020, sales of all third-party games for the year amounted to about $265 million. Apple said that Epic Games lost about $181 million on the Epic Games Store in 2019, putting the total losses thus far at more than $300 million, should these figures be correct. Big games like Metro Exodus and Control were released first on EGS before coming to Steam later.