After Epic Games updated Fortnite on iOS to offer in-game currency directly through Epic at a discounted rate, thus skirting Apple’s official in-app purchase system and violating the terms of the App Store, Apple yanked Fortnite down from sale and ever since an “epic" battle between the two tech giants has ensued. Epic’s argument is that Apple’s “walled garden" approach to software on the iOS platform creates a monopoly where other companies can’t compete like they can on more open platforms, like Android or just personal computers in general.
They blatantly broke the App Store’s rules with Fortnite as a form of protest and fully expected the game to be taken down, but a few days later Apple clapped back by threatening to not just continue keeping Fortnite off the App Store but actually terminating all of Epic’s developer agreements and removing their access to iOS and Mac tools, thus potentially putting any game that uses Epic’s popular Unreal Engine in harm’s way. Epic quickly filed for an injunction against this due to the irreparable harm it would cause not just to their own business but to thousands of developers everywhere using Unreal on either iOS or Mac. Epic also tried arguing that a judge should force Apple to allow Fortnite back on the App Store complete with its new rule-breaking alternate payment method.
Well, the judge offered a ruling and it was pretty common sense stuff and doesn’t heavily favor either side. They ruled that Apple does not have to allow Fortnite back onto the App Store because, again, it’s directly violating rules that Epic has already agreed to when signing up to be an iOS developer. But the judge also ruled that Apple isn’t allowed to completely cripple Epic’s access to the tools that help them keep Unreal Engine up and running on iOS and Mac, because that could indirectly harm a ton of people who aren’t even part of this whole squabble. Personally I think the judge got it right on the money in regards to what needed to be done in the short term, and if Epic wants to continue this fight in the long term they’ll need to wait for their day in court with Apple.
However, today was the deadline for Epic to return Fortnite to the App Store without the alternate payment method or else see their developer agreement terminated, and it appears that Apple has followed through with that action. As of right now there is no Epic Games developer page in the App Store on iOS or Mac and any of the games that were published by them are no longer available to download. An awful side effect of all this is that this also affects any games published by Epic that you previously bought but don’t have downloaded to your device currently, as you’re also no longer able to download their games through your Purchase History. Major womp womp.
This means that if you wanted to re-download the Infinity Blade trilogy just for safe keeping, it’s already too late to do that. And what about my Infinity Blade iMessage stickers! Dust in the wind. To be fair, Epic dropped the Infinity Blade series like a bad habit a couple of years ago entirely of their own accord, but it still sucks not being able to access such a major part of mobile gaming’s history anymore. Hopefully mommy and daddy can make up sometime down the line and these games will be available to download again in the future, but with the way Epic and Apple have both been digging their heels in about the whole thing, I’m not holding my breath.
As for Fortnite, those who are playing on iOS and Mac (are there a lot of Fortnite players on Mac?) do not have access to the new Season 4 which just dropped yesterday, but for now they can still continue to play the game on those platforms with everyone else and everything should work fine. Let me stress the “for now" part of that since I don’t imagine it’ll remain that way for long, and if you’re already finished with Season 3 then you’re effectively done being able to progress in Fortnite anymore, on iOS and Mac at least. You can find out more details about what this all means as well as Epic’s reasoning for picking this particular fight over on the #FreeFortnite FAQ page. We’ll continue to keep tabs on how this drama unfolds as the Epic vs Apple fight continues.
Dayum! Just last month I re-downloaded all 3 Infinity Blade games, then decided I needed to free up a bit of room so I got rid of the first two, keeping the third. I figured I could get them later if I wanted to play them again. Surprise! Not so much!
THIS is why I've continued to mistrust digital only "purchases" on closed platforms. The gatekeepers can decide at any moment to revoke your "ownership" for any reason whatsoever. And it's not just games; it applies to any entertainment/media for which you don't have a physical copy. Books, games, movies, tv series, etc.
I could not agree more. The only thing worse than a "digital" purchase (dongled to a platform via DRM) is a subscription. I hate those like the plague and gave all proponents without alternative the boot.
Funny enough, companies like your very own Epic Games (but also e.g. Uplay) are way worse than Apple in pretty much every conceivable way, with Epic themselves using drug dealer methods to fix people into their ecosystem. Disgusting!
I can tolerate subscriptions easier than DRMed digital downloads since they don't give you the illusion that you are the owner of what you "buy". You know that if you stop paying for the subscription, you can no longer access the media. And some, like the monthly Humble Bundle games, allow you to keep what you've already received, and you just lose access to Trove and future bundles. Even then, if you've already downloaded the Trove games, they keep working.
I'm not sure what you mean by "your very own Epic Games"... While I do buy games through Steam, I don't buy anything from the Epic Games service.
Uhm, a lot of software is DRMed, even regular commercial software. I'm never under the illusion that I'm the owner of the product (or even a copy of the product as some software vendors stupidly claim), I'm well aware that I only obtained a license. But: If I obtained a perpetual license (and I don't do time limited licenses) I'm actually expecting that I can actually use it in perpetuity.
Sorry, that was a general reference back to the article which is about Epic Games.
I have the ipa files backed up on my Mac; they install and work fine. My ownership wasn't revoked. Even on stores like GOG, which are DRM-free, if they were to go bye-bye someday, if you don't have your stuff downloaded, it's still gone. It's more about the dangers of relying on the cloud. Keep your stuff local and keep backups.
You can't backup apps anymore from iOS devices. And if you should happen to get a new computer, good luck trying to transfer all your currently saved apps library to a new machine. I know several people who lost everything in the process.
I used to do that as well. I had over 1TB of ipa files backed up. I would also burn them off to DVDs. And then Apple changed how things were done, and they no longer sync from my iPad to my computer or vice versa. So that does me no good anymore.
As for GOG – which I use – since most of what you get there is DRM free, it's easy to download and store. Less so things from Steam. You can back them up, but if the servers disappear, that's basically that. Same with digital purchases through Playstation, Switch, XBox, etc. Anything locked up with DRM isn't owned by the customer. It's just an illusion.
That's why if there's a game that I don't want to lose, and it's available on physical media, that's how I'll buy it. Soon I'm guessing systems that support physical media will fade away, if for no other reason than they can finally kill off the secondhand market that's driven them nuts for decades.
Lastly, do you back up your backed up ipa files? If not, one hard drive failure and it's all gone.
Yes, obviously. I did say "keep your stuff local and keep backups". Physical media isn't really an answer since it's not that hard for discs to become unreadable for various reasons, and they're copy-protected so no backups. The best way is DRM-free files, since that way you can back them up properly.
As for iTunes, yeah, but there are other apps that can manage ipa files. Also you can still install existing iTunes ipa backups by dragging them onto the "On my device" section in the iTunes sidebar, which is how I verified that my Infinity Blade files still work (complete with game progress intact).
That's cool that it still works.
Actually, preventing users from downloading previously purchased software is a pretty blatant anti-consumer move, or a major oversight in their developer terms of use.
I would have expected Apple to require the license to continue providing data to users who have at some point purchased a game, and for them to do it i the interest of their own reputation.
I have come to abhor the inconsistency of the Android ecosystem, but Apple really puts the orice you pay for their QA a bit too much front and center with their recent decisions...
I could see blocking new purchases (if they really wanted to go that route), but preventing people who previously purchased a game from accessing them is a terrible move.
I've been going back through my iTunes store app purchases, and I've realized that a lot of games that I once had access to are now gone. I can't re-download them through my account. They are in my purchase history, but are no longer available on my iPad Air running iOS 10.3.3. And that's not counting the number of games I lost access to on my newer devices when the switch to 64-bit happened.
Apple... what are you doing? Why punish us by removing our purchase histories? Thank god I have IB3 on my tablet but IB 1 and 2 are completely gone?
I'm really tired of Apple not allowing us to back up our apps for future use. Up until this year luckily we were still allowed to back them up via the old version of iTunes, but even that feature they removed earlier in the year. If this does anything is make me 2nd guess buying stuff on the App Store now because I know my purchases might be gone at a later date.
Too far, too far!
hope it blows up in Apple's face
I thought Epic was being ...bratty?... with the way the tried to attack this legitimate issue.
A little silly basically giving Apple the middle finger with cool, colorful style. And inviting the kids for a fun rally to fight The Man.
But they were making a stand that Apple had too much power over the people that create apps that give the AppStore its appeal.
And Apple sure went and confirmed their point.
Kinda like killing the whole family, cartel style, and then saying it’s just business.
“We’re all partners here! But we will destroy you if you challenge our authority.”
(To add: I agree that the judge got it right for phase one here.)
"You don't get big and powerful by being nice." Apple is big and powerful. Deep down, the core is rotten.