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Comment by bdz | Hacker News Reader

Curious how this will play out because they explicitly bypass both Google and Apple

Probably pushing it intentionally given the recent antitrust discussions. Worst case for them, they get banned from the store for a bit until they take that option down.

Sadly, it's gonna take a while before actual legislation is enacted.

If Fortnite gets banned, they'll stay that way for a long time unless they remove direct payment.

I'd assume that the move would be to take the option out then file an anti-trust suit.

Even if that happens Epic still wins. Customers will no longer get their discount and will blame Apple for it.

That’s the point right? It’s a direct swing at a topic Tim Sweeney has been very vocal about.

From the announcement, V-Bucks are 20% cheaper (... when purchased from epicstore I guess...).

So, you use your browser, login to epicstore with your account, purchase v-bucks at 20% discount and you use those v-bucks in all Epic Games regardless the platform.

It's not an issue that [insert digital good here] is cheaper on the seller's website than in the Apple App Store. What Apple prohibits you from is telling your client that the [insert digital good here] is available for purchase somewhere else or that there's a special kind of a markup on the App Store option.

I don't think that's entirely true. Apps can use SMS or open the OS browser to accept payments and not be in direct violation of the guidelines.

>Apps can use SMS or open the OS browser to accept payments and not be in direct violation of the guidelines.

Which apps are allowed to open the browser for payments? I don't think even Netflix isn't allowed to do it. They just say "You can't make an account in the app" (paraphrasing) on the sign in page.

I'm under the impression anything done outside the app doesn't really fall under App Review territory. Embedding a UIWebView is considered in-app, and an embedded SFSafariViewController has slightly different rules.

No if you have a payment method setup you can pay using it directly from the apps themselves: https://www.epicgames.com/fortnite/en-US/news/announcing-epi...

Then in the app the Apple/Play payment method is explicitly not discounted.

Oh they knew this way before they activated this.

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