Epic Games founder and CEO Tim Sweeney criticized the 30% cut that Apple takes from every App Store purchase. This is far from the first time that Sweeney has criticized these charges, and Google's 30% Play Store cut is one reason why it chose not to put the Android version of Fortnite on the store at launch.
On Twitter, Sweeney shared a link to a New York Times story about Apple trying to take a commission on the services businesses had been selling through their apps as COVID-19 had to change the way they did things. The Epic Games founder said that Apple had "gone crazy," and that the company has "no right to take any percent of any company’s revenue just because they made the phone people use to access the stuff."
In following tweets, Sweeney continued to slam the business practice, suggesting that Apple would "block the web and make arbitrary decisions about what pages you’re allowed to visit" and demand a 30% cut from every business that does business online if it could. Apple does restrict the availability of some apps in regions like China, and asks that developers act in accordance with local laws. It also prevents tracking technology being used in its Safari browser. Sweeney's comments are extreme, but the responses on Twitter suggest that he's not the only one who thinks that Apple could someday have the power to do this.
In another tweet, Sweeney said that it "pains" him to complain about Apple in this way, calling the iPhone creator "one of the greatest companies that has ever existed." However, Sweeney also said that Apple "fundamentally wrong in blocking competition and choice on devices they make" and that by doing this, the company "holds up entire fields of technological progress."
In an antitrust lawsuit against Apple, the company was called a "monopolistic retailer" for the 30% cut it takes on App Store purchases. After Apple appealed the lawsuit, a ruling by the Supreme Court of the United States of America allowed the lawsuit to go forward, meaning that other class-action lawsuits like this are also permitted.
Last month, United States Congressman David Cicilline, D-RI, called Apple's fees "highway robbery." The United States Congress is doing an investigation into digital stores like the App Store and today, executives from companies like Apple, Google, Amazon, and Facebook are being interviewed as part of it. While it's unclear what will happen following the investigation, it's possible that Sweeney and other developers against the fees may soon be able to make money from the App Store without paying that 30%.