At the opening event of the Unreal Fest in Seattle, Tim Sweeney, CEO of Epic Games, addressed the recent commercial failures of ambitious, citing a "generational change" in the gaming landscape as part of the reason for their failures. Epic Games seemingly wants to address this shift in gamer priorities by relying more on in-game social features, although there was also a strong emphasis on getting indie game developers to sign on to use the Unreal Engine and the Epic Games Store.

In the same presentation, Epic Games announced a new collaboration between the Epic Games Store and Unreal Engine that should make it easier and more affordable for small development teams to market and publish their games to Epic Games and other storefronts. The new launch program, called Launch Everywhere with Epic, reduces Epic's revenue cut for any games developed with Unreal Engine and published on the Epic Games Store before or at the same time as any other platforms. Epic also announced new "indie spaces" for indie developers to share knowledge and make industry connections.

Apple has just been hit with a massive €500 million fine by the European Union over a complaint filed by Spotify over anti-competitive practices. The crux of the complaint is that while Spotify subscriptions purchased on its website are competitive to those of Apple Music, subscriptions purchased on Apple devices via the App Store incur a 30% commission to Apple, which would result in Spotify having to increase its subscription prices, making Spotify lose competitiveness to Apple Music, which comes pre-installed on iOS devices, is deeply integrated with the operating system, and costs less. The Spotify complaint was filed with the European Commission way back in 2019, with the ruling coming out just now. Apple is already facing the EU's heat over barriers to App Store alternatives in the Epic Games case. The company is implementing several platform-level changes with the upcoming iOS 17.4 update scheduled for March 2024, as well as changes to its terms of service. Hopefully Spotify gets its due.

Apple today announced changes to iOS, Safari, and the App Store impacting developers' apps in the European Union (EU) to comply with the Digital Markets Act (DMA). The changes include more than 600 new APIs, expanded app analytics, functionality for alternative browser engines, and options for processing app payments and distributing iOS apps. Across every change, Apple is introducing new safeguards that reduce—but don't eliminate—new risks the DMA poses to EU users. With these steps, Apple will continue to deliver the best, most secure experience possible for EU users.

The new options for processing payments and downloading apps on iOS open new avenues for malware, fraud and scams, illicit and harmful content, and other privacy and security threats. That's why Apple is introducing protections—including Notarization for iOS apps, an authorization for marketplace developers, and disclosures on alternative payments—to reduce risks and deliver the best, most secure experience possible for users in the EU. Even with these safeguards in place, many risks remain.

Epic Games won a pivotal anti-trust dispute against industry giant Google, with a Jury holding Google Play and its billing service guilty of running an illegal monopoly for the sale of software and digital assets. Epic had sued both Google and Apple of running restrictive, walled-garden marketplaces on their mobile platforms, which forced people to buy, subscribe, or pay for its products only through their marketplaces, namely Google Play and the App Store, after gouging huge revenue shares. Epic had sought to release its own marketplace, the Epic Games Store, on these platforms, so it could sell its wares just the way it does on the PC. With this favorable verdict, Epic stands to save "hundreds of millions or even billions of Dollars" in fees to Google. Meanwhile, Google stated that it is preparing to appeal in a higher court, on the basis that the Play Store isn't the only software/content marketplace, and that it is competing with Apple's App Store (although not on the same devices).

Apple and Epic Games have been locked in a bitter legal feud for two years, relating to an antitrust case started by the latter company. The iPhone and Mac computer giant has made an appeal to the US Supreme Court—as demonstrated in a court filing that was released to the public on Monday (June 3). They request that justices take up its appeal of a ruling for tomorrow (June 7) by the San Francisco-based 9th U.S. Circuit Court (of Appeals). A 2021 verdict determined that Apple had to cease anti-steering practices. Apparently game developers were restricted to certain payment practices (imposing of fees) within the iOS App store. Epic Games sued Apple for anti-competitive practices back in 2020, with the US district court of California rejecting nine of out Epic's ten claims the following year—only the aforementioned anti-steering case was allowed to proceed.

The Ninth Circuit rejected petitions from Apple and Epic late last week—both companies urged that the court reconsider an April 2023 decision about the Californian law violation. Epic thinks that certain legal decisions have been made in Apple's favor, and the latter continues to rile against the App Store order. It argues that Epic was the sole "non-representative" plaintiff, yet the injunction applies to all iOS developers and US states outside of California. Apple believes that the ruling "raises far-reaching and important questions" about the federal court's limited authority to issue injunctions that apply to organizations not directly involved in the case.