Epic Games is also suing Google over Fortnites removal from the Play Store | Hacker News Reader

Epic Games is also suing Google over Fortnites removal from the Play Store

theverge.com

80 pointsjsheard13 comments

Skimming the PDF there are some juicy claims in there, allegedly the Epic store was almost preloaded on OnePlus phones but Google stepped in and forced OnePlus to shitcan the deal. Likewise LG preemptively refused to bundle the Epic store saying their Google contract wouldn't allow it.

Google throws power users a bone by allowing sideloading in Android, but as soon as OEMs make it too easy to bypass the Play Store it seems they change their tune and invoke veto powers to stop it.

That fortnight Oneplus deal is the smoking gun here.

I hope regulators grow some balls.

I want to play Fortnite on PC from platform that isn’t owned by EPIC. Is that possible? No, its exclusive to Epic Game Store. They are hypocrites.

Is the Epic game store the only place to get software on Windows?

Is the Google play store the only place to get apps on android?

No, they aren't.

At least... not about this.

I might be interested in easily playing Epic games on Linux, but their walled garden doesn't allow that.

Is epic store an operating system?

Android, ios are.

I dont think you understand the issue with monopoly and how they ruin competition.

It's all a marketing gimmick. Apple and Google would probably negotiate and reduce the cut for Epic Games. Indie devs would still suffer.

This is Sweeney's doing. You really think he's going to stop at a deal just for Epic? He has a righteousness streak that a lot of people seem to not understand and I don't know why.

I hope Sweeney wins this battle and opens up the smartphone app market, but considering how many games he has signed to exclusive deals on the Epic Games Store I think his motives are selfish, not righteous or pro-consumer.

He's fighting to tear down walls here, but at the same time he's building walls elsewhere.

He's fighting to tear down walls so his role as a gatekeeper is more valuable. The Epic v. Apple suit explicitly mentions that, without Apple's alleged anticompetitive behavior, Epic would build a version of their store for iOS, and it's not a huge leap to think that Epic would roll out a version of their free games program on it to drive traffic.

I hope not because I don’t want my phone to be a Windows like malware shitfest. I like that I can install any app there is and be reasonably sure it isn’t going to steal my private data or ransom me.

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