Tim Sweeney Accuses Apple of Copying From Valve, Microsoft and Epic. Company Wants to Create New Gaming App
Tim Sweeney has criticized a new idea that is set to appear in the App Store. The leaks paint a picture of a gaming app from Apple, heavily inspired by the features of either Steam or Xbox.
9to5mac reports that Apple is in the process of developing an app that will combine the features of the App Store and Game Center. Within it, there will be friends' statistics, challenges, and achievements. According to Tim Sweeney, the head of Epic Games, Apple blatantly copies things from Epic, Steam, and Xbox, while simultaneously blocking these companies from offering their services in the Apple ecosystem. It's worth noting that it was Microsoft, among others, that previously supported Epic in its fight against Apple.
Tim Sweeney is not done with Apple just yet
The leaks are extensive and reveal many features that would allegedly be found within the theoretical app. The aforementioned social issues would include integration with iMessage and FaceTime to enable communication between players. The program will also suggest new games to users, which will come from both the App Store and Apple Arcade.
The announced information did not please Tim Sweeney, who fought Apple for several years to open iOS devices to competition and against the App Store's anti-competitive practices. Even the European Commission got involved in the conflict. According to Sweeney, the American giant is clearly copying solutions from its competitors:
"Sounds like Apple's App Store team is cloning the feature set of SteamWorks, Epic Online Services, and Xbox Live while denying Valve, Epic, and Microsoft the ability to compete worldwide with the App Store."
The app is aimed exclusively at gamers and could be Apple's next attempt to market the iPhone as a gaming device. The last major attempt included access to Resident Evil VII, Assassin's Creed Mirage, and Death Stranding on smartphones, which, however, was not met with much response from players. The new application is supposed to change this, although not everyone is convinced.
Under the article, some interested parties suggested that the application would not bring in new players if only mobile games were to be offered. They still can't compete with full-fledged console and computer games, and the current Apple Arcade offer doesn't encourage long-term subscriptions, because interesting productions to play run out too quickly.
