Apple Subpoenas Valve for Steam's Data on 346 Games

[Valantar]

The fact that the Judge compared them all, does directly compare them all in this case. Which is why Valve has been subpoenaed and the Judge has allowed it.

That just shows that - as is often the case, sadly - the judge either lacks understanding of the nuances involved or rules in a shortsighted manner not considering the broader implications of the ruling. By this metric, any company sued by a competitor could subpoena pretty much any other competitor and demand confidential sales data from an unrelated market. The legal utility of this pales in comparison to how fundamentally anticompetitive it is.

 

[mechtech]

Well, you should stop buying overpriced phones from apple...

I got a 2nd hand iphone 8 for $150 cnd

 

[bug]

The fact that the Judge compared them all, does directly compare them all in this case. Which is why Valve has been subpoenaed and the Judge has allowed it.

The judge has mixed specialty with general purpose hardware, but seems to be looking only at games distribution, which is clearly not the scope of the AppStore. The judge has stuff to learn about the lawsuit, otherwise the decision will be on very shaky ground.

 

[DeathtoGnomes]

The judge has mixed specialty with general purpose hardware, but seems to be looking only at games distribution, which is clearly not the scope of the AppStore. The judge has stuff to learn about the lawsuit, otherwise the decision will be on very shaky ground.

Thats close to grounds for the judge to recuse herself.

 

[Ravenas]

Thats close to grounds for the judge to recuse herself.

The Judge isn't discarding the fact that the platforms/retailers/devices are different in nature. What's being compared is industry wide percent cost take. The case is enormous in size because it has far reaching implications across much of retail America, which aren't just related to Epic's desire for lower costs and direct payments. Epic will ultimately lose this case. The question remains will Epic be able to convince lawmakers to create favorable legislations for them, doubtful but remains to be seen.

 

[bencrutz]

The Judge isn't discarding the fact that the platforms/retailers/devices are different in nature. What's being compared is industry wide percent cost take. The case is enormous in size because it has far reaching implications across much of retail America, which aren't just related to Epic's desire for lower costs and direct payments. Epic will ultimately lose this case. The question remains will Epic be able to convince lawmakers to create favorable legislations for them, doubtful but remains to be seen.

percent cost take is already clear in steam, there is no need to disclose sales data.

 

[Lycanwolfen]

I really hope Valve just say ok Good bye Apple. This is some of the dark negative of apple I have been saying for years. I wish every 3rd Party would just drop apple and leave them to themselfs. Watch how fast apple would crawl back and say ok have it your way.

 

[Valantar]

I really hope Valve just say ok Good bye Apple. This is some of the dark negative of apple I have been saying for years. I wish every 3rd Party would just drop apple and leave them to themselfs. Watch how fast apple would crawl back and say ok have it your way.

Why would Apple care if Valve dropped support for their platforms? They have zero presence on iOS, and while there are of course a lot of people playing games on their Macs, Apple would likely just welcome them all getting their games from the App Store. And there's zero chance we'd ever see a wide-ranging developer boycott of Apple - most app developers are completely reliant on revenues from Apple-owned platforms to survive - paid app sales are much, much higher on iOS than Android, for example - so that would be suicide for them.

 

[bug]

I wonder if anyone ever catches on to the fact that % based fees are not really justified when selling digital goods. Once you set up the account for one customer, your per-unit cost of each sale is almost nil.

 

[spnidel]

30% ?? I wonder who are the biggest thieves...

industry standard, steam and GOG take the same 30%

 

[bug]

industry standard, steam and GOG take the same 30%

Not exactly apples-to-apples. Steam and GOG are optional, AppStore is not and it controls everything you install, not just games.
The lawsuit is initiated by Epic, which sells games, but it's not about games distribution, it's about the practice in general.

 

[Sir Alex Ice]

That magistrate is a retard, Valve sales have nothing to do with Apple and Epic .