Share This Article
Credit: Epic Games
AppleInsider may earn an affiliate commission on purchases made through links on our site.
Epic CEO Tim Sweeney believes Apple is a major “roadblock in the way of Epic’s vision for a metaverse.”
On Thursday, Epic Games discussed its plans for the metaverse at the Game Developers Conference 2023. The company believes the metaverse should be open and that “it can’t be another walled garden.”
The “walled garden” statement is a direct jab at Apple. Sweeney has routinely expressed this sentiment during Epic’s long battle against Apple’s App Store policies.
In an interview with GameIndustry, Sweeney expanded on his concerns.
“[Apple will] either try to crush the metaverse, or extract all the profit from it. One or the other. Apple doesn’t let you use a competing browser engine. So they can do the same thing with the metaverse, so [they] can say, ‘you must use Apple’s limited metaverse engine, you can’t build your own, you can’t use Unreal.”
It’s not clear why Sweeney believes that the Unreal Engine won’t be allowed on any AR or VR implementation by Apple. It is used in iPhone and Mac development now, and it seems unlikely that it will be disallowed going forward.
“If we just build this thing in an open environment then companies can live on their merits,” Sweeney added. “We very much like that because we have a history of winning on the merits when given the chance and we’re terribly frustrated at markets like iOS where you just can’t make an Epic Games Store for iOS because Apple says ‘You can’t compete with us’!”
He says that he believes robust antitrust laws are the only way forward and that Epic would lead the charge against Apple’s influence on the market.
“We see them as utterly dominating this business if they’re allowed to use their market power and hardware to do so. So we’re fighting that. The other challenges I think can all be overcome.”
Sweeney has spoken out against Apple for some time now, but his feud escalated after Fortnite got removed from the App Store. It was removed after Epic violated their developer agreement by implementing a way that users could sidestep the 30% commission fee.
Apple’s mixed reality headset is rumored to launch at WWDC 2023. The yet-unannounced headset is anticipated to be a wearable visor with mixed-reality software. It would be an at-home computer capable of transporting the user to different locations for work or play.
I don’t think Apple is their risk factor. I think the fact that people are is interested in VR as they were in 3D television is the risk factor. The number of people who want this crap in any near future is a rounding error.
Sweeney’s real fear is that Apple could stand in the way of his ability to screw over his own customers.
The major factor is metaverse. Buzzword compliant. Nonsense repeated is still nonsense.
I fear Epic’s influence on the metaverse. But my opinion doesn’t matter either.
Epic has a Meteverse strategy? Sounds more like this decade’s management buzzword. And let’s be honest, with the quarter billion dollar fine Epic just got hit with for deceptive and abusive practices in Fortnight, it seems to me that they are the ones most likely to try to “ extract all the profit from it”. They are the ones with the history of deceit and abuse.
Keyport’s Pivot 2.0 is a great way to build your own keychain multi-tool, and its new collaboration with Popl gives a small yet useful e-business card.
The Baseus Bowie M2 Plus wireless earbuds can be handy if you want to listen to music and block out unwanted noise. Besides being noise canceling, they are app-enabled to create your unique sound profile.
Orico has made a clever external 2.5-inch USB enclosure with a retro cassette design that is inexpensive and fun to use.
Samsung’s Galaxy S23 Ultra is a high-end smartphone that aims at Apple’s iPhone 14 Pro with a 200-megapixel camera and a high-resolution 6.8-inch display, as well as a stylus.
Samsung’s February notebook launches include the Galaxy Book3 Pro 14, featuring a Dynamic AMOLED display and a 13th-gen Intel processor. This is how it stacks up against Apple’s counterpart, the new M2-based 14-inch MacBook Pro.
Samsung has released its answer to the iPhone 14 Pro and other smartphones. Here’s how the Galaxy S23 compares against the iPhone 14 Pro.
The Mac Pro is still available as the Mac to switch to Apple Silicon. The powerful M2 Pro Mac mini is now out, and it gives the tower a run for its money.
Apple added powerful new M2 Pro and M2 Max chips to the 14-inch MacBook Pro. Here’s how it compares to the 2022 13-inch MacBook Pro with M2.
