Epic Games CEO Tim Sweeney has said “Apple must be stopped” and called for a universal app store that works across all platforms. The Fortnite-maker continued its attacks on both Apple and Google, in an interview and conference appearance on Tuesday, Bloomberg News reported.
Epic Games: ‘Apple Must be Stopped’
Speaking at the Global Conference for Mobile Application Ecosystem Fairness in South Korea, Mr. Sweeney said:
Apple locks a billion users into one store and payment processor. Now Apple complies with oppressive foreign laws, which surveil users and deprive them of political rights. But Apple is ignoring laws passed by Korea’s democracy. Apple must be stopped.
Call For Cross-Platform App Store
Following up in an interview, the Epic Games CEO commented:
What the world really needs now is a single store that works with all platforms. Right now software ownership is fragmented between the iOS App Store, the Android Google Play marketplace, different stores on Xbox, PlayStation, and Nintendo Switch, and then Microsoft Store and the Mac App Store
He said that his firm is working with developers and service providers in order to build a system that would let users “buy software in one place, knowing that they’d have it on all devices and all platforms.”
Epic Games Boss Call For Better Antitrust Enforcement Against Apple And Google
Despite the long-running legal and PR battle, Mr. Sweeney did not dispute that Google and Apple should be able to profit from their work. However, he said that “it’s critical that antitrust enforcement not allow a monopolist in one market to use their control of that market to impose control over unrelated markets.”
Responding, Google spokesman Dan Jackson said that the Google Play Store service fee “has never been simply for payment processing.” Instead, “it’s how we provide Android and Google Play for free and invest in the many distribution, development, and security services that support developers and consumers in South Korea and around the world.”
Apple had made no public comment at the time of this writing.
