Yep.
Tim Sweeney is a massively deceptive, intellectually dishonest, greedy, underhanded clown. As if he gives a fuck about the "little developer".
Funny thing is, I can't recall an ounce of resistance when Apple first introduced the Appstore and its fees (which haven't risen a single percentage since then). Developers fucking FLOCKED to it, as well as consumers. If it was that HORRIBLE of a deal, why all the enthusiasm from devs? The problem is that most people have very little historical context or knowledge. How much do people think small developers got when distributing software the old fashioned way, before the success of the appstore and other digital marketplaces? Far, FAR less than 70%. After all the publishing/distribution fees and whatnot, in many cases it was closer to 20-30%. The appstore was a paradigm shift. The appstore was and is a MASSIVE boon to devs, any way you slice it.
And WHY is the appstore so much more successful than other stores, and loved by consumers, including Google Play? It is BECAUSE of all the guidelines and restrictions Apple have instituted, like the fact that you go through Apple's payment processing, and you don't get presented with a fucking credit card form or given payment "options" like Sweeney wants, and sharing your payment info with God knows how many companies. Sweeney is claiming consumers are clamoring for choice, but I'm pretty fucking sure nobody is clamoring for an option of payment processors when getting an app, nor alternative appstores. The reason that the appstore makes so much more money for devs than the Play store, even thought the marketshare is much LESS, is because of all these decisions Apple have taken with it, their investments.
Also, I don't recall hearing a negative peep about appstore fees until the massive multi billion corporations like Epic claiming to champion them suddenly decided that they are entitled to use Apple's private platform free of charge, and entitled to monetize their lucrative userbase of $1B+ without paying anything it. iOS was NEVER advertised as an open platform, and neither was the appstore. Also, Android has a MASSIVE userbase and is "open". Can someone name me a SINGLE commercially successful app that requires sideloading? Just one is sufficient. Because apparently, developers are so oppressed and imprisoned by the appstore, if only consumers could sideload their apps, they would be doing SO much better. Except, Android DOES allow sideloading, and yet- massive shocker- 99% of consumers prefer to use the official store. So is forcing Apple to allow side-loading, and the multitude of security issues that would entail and the deterioration of trust in the platform that would result worth this hypothetical, non-existent benefit to developers?
Sweeney's revisionist history is despicable and dishonest, and his analogies are ludicrous. As is his strategy of weaponizing his 13yr base with this type of sewage level marketing. This entire manufactured campaign has been gross from the very beginning, and it's sad that some people here have so much irrational hatred towards Apple, and they're actually championing Sweeney and his dishonest tactics. All because he wants 100% of his free money shitty V-bucks on iOS, instead of 70%. At the detriment of literally every other party involved, INCLUDING the consumer. And people gladly eat up his IBM and 1984 comparisons.
