author: Patrick Kubiak
Roblox Devs Back Apple in War With Epic; iOS Ecosystem as Security Guarantee
It looks like Epic Games' dispute with Apple will continue. The parties engage more soldiers. Roblox Corporation has just taken the side of the Cupertino giant.
Roblox Corporation supports Apple in its ongoing battle with Epic Games. As you may rememeber, that the dispute began when the North Carolina-based game developer and publisher decided to declare a war on the 30% margin that the company founded by Steve Jobs imposes on developers who want to offer products and services in the iOS software store (App Store).
Roblox creates "experiences," not "games"
Apple is not satisfied with the outcome of last year's lawsuit against "Epic" and has asked lawyers to prepare an appeal hearing. Roblox Corporation, a free platform for creating games, which attracted on average 54.7 million users each day of January, has taken the side of iPhones manufacturer. The support of such a significant partner may have pleased many at Apple headquarters.
As reported by Reuters, the developer praised iOS and its closed ecosystem in a special legal statement:
"Apple's process for verification of apps available on App Store increases security and gives developers more legitimacy in the eyes of users."
Roblox is a key argument in the ongoing legal battle. As with Epic, we're talking about software that allows in-app purchases - as was the case with the internal "store" of Fortnite. Such practices seemingly violate Apple's policy that it is illegal to run stores other than the App Store on iOS.
When asked why Roblox was allowed in the system even though it is a de facto a platform that sells games, the company countered that the works of its users are not games, but "experiences".
At the same time, Roblox Corp. updated its social media channels and website changing the naming of "games" to "experiences". It also began introducing itself as a a metaverse company.
Epic Games vs. the world
We wrote more about the war between Epic Games and Apple last year. If you are interested in the background of the case, I invite you to read the following news:
Epic fell into disfavor not of the company from Cupertino. Despite the removal of Fortnite from the Google Play store, the game continued to earn money on Android, bypassing Google's share margin commission. The company from Mountain View decided to deal with this - in its opinion - unfair practice in court, as Apple did.