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Epic Games vs Apple Judicial Action: Days 5, 6

May 11, 2021 (edited)

The game mechanics of "Roblox" and the itch.io independent game store are involved in this lawsuit.

The focus of the discussion on the fifth day was "store within a store", which means the doubts about building another software or game store in the App. Apple is banned in the iOS App Store because they can't control what's listed on the in-app software store.

But Apple eventually allowed Roblox, a game in which millions of other players made their own games, on the App Store. The defense testimony of Trystan Kosmynka, director of Apple's App Store Review, is worth excerpting as follows: ( refer to the recording )

Apple lawyer Moye: Did the ERB determine whether Roblox was a store within a store?

Apple Kosmynka: We determined it was not.

Apple lawyer Moye: And why was that determination made?

Apple Kosmynka: As I said yesterday, there's experiences within Roblox that from our point of review we would not look at as a game, these are configurations that enable a particular experience in the world. It's akin to something like Minecraft's map. And so more that configuration can…

Judge YGR: I think that Mincraft is a game?

Apple Kosmynka: Minecraft itself is a game? Yes.

Judge YGR: So I don't understand, you said that yesterday, too. I don't understand the distinction you're making.

Apple Kosmynka: Your honor, in the case of Minecraft, you join their server. And when you join the server, that server has a particular world of that canvas. So that's … before Minecraft. And they joined a particular world, there may be a castle that's already prebuilt into that. So that would be a configuration. But the features and functionality of the overall game itself is not changing. And so in the same way that they could have the world be a castle, they could also have the world be a farm, but the mechanics of how each one of these experiences work remains the same. And the capabilities between those experiences…in the capabilities they said, security and privacy implications remain the same. These experiences are not capable of doing dynamic things beyond what the creator's experience, has already predefined into that. And so that is akin to some other app … similar to lenses on Snapchat, where you put bunny ears on your face, that's also an experience, a configuration file as opp osed to software that's downloaded that changes the entire construct of the app.

Judge YGR: Alright, go ahead.

(Editor's note: Apple's Kosmynka said that since the player-made games in "Roblox", like the self-made maps in "Minecraft", are based on pre-written components in the program, the functional mechanism of the software itself is unchanged. Enough to ensure security and privacy.

But the extent to which the "component function" used for assembly here is acceptable is actually still a fuzzy area.

For example, there is a "redstone" component in "Minecraft" that can be used to make circuits, and some people even make memory on it. Does this count as creating new functions? Player-made games in "Roblox" even support the use of the Lua programming language. Can this be considered a new feature?

Another example is "Workflow", the predecessor of Apple's "Shortcut". Before it was acquired by Apple, it already had an HTTP Request component, which could freely access Web APIs and create small apps. Does this count as creating new functions? And "Workflow" has a built-in Gallery that can download finished products created by others. Does this count as downloading other people's code? But in the end, "Workflow" not only was not removed from the shelves, but also won the 2015 Apple Design Award and was acquired by Apple in 2017. )

In addition, Apple pointed out that there is a itch.io on the Epic Games Store, an independent video game mall, which contains "unable to name" sexually explicit adult games, which are used to refer to the in-app software mall that should not be allowed, causing discussion in the game community .

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The highlight of the sixth day was an economist expert, David Evans, who previously pointed out that there are many competing platforms for iOS games, including home consoles. But David Evans pointed out that the home console market is not a competitor to the mobile game market, because players with home consoles all own mobile phones, and only seven of the top 50 grossing iOS games also have home console versions, while downloads Of the top 50 iOS games, only 4 have home console versions. If home consoles are its competitors, players may not even need to buy a mobile phone.

A whopping 60.7% of total Fortnite iOS playtime was played by iOS-only players, but only 16.7% moved to other platforms after it was removed. Even looking at the overall data of "Fortnite", up to 82.7% of players only play on a single platform and will not switch to other platforms, which further confirms that iOS and other game platforms are not competitive, and the App Store does monopolize the iOS game market. Since around 2010, the mobile device market has been dominated by a duopoly of iOS and Android.

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