Epic Games To Contest Apple’s “Bad-Faith Compliance Plan”: Here’s Why?

A long legal dispute has been going on between Epic Games and the silicon giant, Apple. Recently, the US Supreme Court ruled that Apple will have to change some of its App Store policies. Among them, the most important is to let developers offer alternative payment methods. However, Epic Games CEO Tim Sweeney isn’t happy with the final terms at all. According to her, the company will contest Apple’s “bad-faith compliance plan.” She says that Apple will revise the App Store guidelines to concede with the outcome of the Epic vs. Apple trial. Still, the changes are not exactly what many developers had been waiting for.

The point worth mentioning here is that Apple will allow developers to provide links to alternative payment methods in their apps. However, there’s a trap. It is quite similar to what happened in the Netherlands for dating apps. All developers will still have to offer in-app purchases using the App Store sales system. In this way, users will have the choice of paying using the App Store or an alternative method.

Apple To Charge 27% Commission On Purchases Made Through Alternative Payments

Reports claim that Apple will charge a 12% commission from small developers Currently, the company charges 30% and 15% commission respectively. Moreover, the firm will periodically require an accounting of qualifying out-of-app purchases to audit and tax developers. The main advantage of selling items and subscriptions outside the App Store becomes ineffective when a commission is charged.

Epic Games CEO Sweeney indicated that Apple’s solution is “anti-competitive” since developers can’t deliver digital items more cheaply on the web. They can’t pay both Apple and another platform. Epic’s CEO stated:

“Apple dictates all aspects of these links by forcing developers to place them away from places where users buy stuff and requires developers to open a generic session in a web browser so that the user has to log in and search for the item they want to buy all over again. The company uses a “scare screen” to disadvantage alternative payment platforms.”

It’s still unknown when exactly the new App Store guidelines will take effect in the US. However, Tim Sweeney assures that Epic Games will contest Apple’s compliance plan in District Court.