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šŸ‘‰ The Epic Conspiracy (w/ Christian Handley)
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šŸ‘‰ The Epic Conspiracy (w/ Christian Handley)

What happened on Tech Twitter last week - August 9 - 15

Brett Goldstein
Aug 17, 2020
2
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šŸ‘‰ The Epic Conspiracy (w/ Christian Handley)
socialstudies.substack.com

Yo!Ā āœŒļøĀ I’mĀ Brett! I am a Product Manager and former Cognitive Science researcher.Ā Social StudiesĀ is a semi-weekly newsletter for people building great products for humans. It includes recaps of what happened on Tech Twitter every week plus deep analysis using frameworks from Psychology, Economics, and the other Social Sciences.

🚨 Help me make Social Studies even better! Please fill out this quick survey for a chance to win a $25 Amazon gift card!

ā¤ļø This week’s top story was written by my good friend Christian Handley!


✨ TLDR

šŸ”Ø Apple and Google dropped the hammer - Epic enabled their own payments processor in Fortnite. Apple and Google responded by suspending that app.

šŸ˜ Epic was planning it all along - Fortnite retaliated with a couple antitrust lawsuits and a marketing campaign timed perfectly with Google and Apple antitrust hearings.

šŸ¤” Apple’s value has been diminishing - Apple has been taking 30% tax on revenue from developers for 12 years. But they’re delivering substantially less value these days.

🦮 Underdogs usually become abusers eventually - ā€œAbsolute power corrupts absolutelyā€ as they say.


šŸ”Ø Apple and Google dropped the hammer on Epic

Epic Games added a feature in the iOS and Android versions of Fortnite that allowed them collect revenue on digital goods directly through their own payment processing service instead of Apple’s. As an added incentive, they gave users a permanent 20% discount on the V-Bucks (digital currency) they could purchase.Ā 

As a result, Apple removed the app from their store. Google shortly followed suit.

Twitter avatar for @alexeheathAlex Heath @alexeheath
struck by how clearly Epic is articulating long-simmering tensions between Apple and iOS developers: ā€œBy blocking consumer choice in software installation, Apple has created a problem so they can profit from the solution."
FORTNITE MEGA DROP PRESS FAQThe Fortnite Mega Drop is an up to 20% price reduction on all V-Bucks and real-money offers inside of Fortnite when using select payment methods. This isn’t a sale... these are our new discount prices available anytime.epicgames.com

August 13th 2020

6 Retweets31 Likes

šŸ˜ Epic was planning it all along

Epic responded swiftly with antitrust lawsuits against Google and Apple plus a full ad campaign parodying Apple’sĀ famous 1984 Big Brother ad.

Twitter avatar for @pmPaul McKellar @pm
Epic(fortnite) is going to fight Apple I guess. These words.
cdn2.unrealengine.com/apple-complain…
Image

August 13th 2020

2 Retweets10 Likes
Twitter avatar for @ZhugeEXDaniel Ahmad @ZhugeEX
Epic Games full statement about why they're putting Fortnite on Google Play sure is something.
Image

April 21st 2020

118 Retweets821 Likes

How were they able to respond so quickly withĀ fully formed legalĀ Ā briefings, an in-game event, and meticulously worded press releases within a couple days?

Could this all have been planned to take advantage of the current antitrust proceedings against Big Tech in order to get better terms on their app store agreement?

*Puts on tin foil hat*

Yes.

Epic also conspicuously left the consoles out of this whole discussion, despite the fact that the vast majority of their existing users are on these closed platforms. This feels like further evidence that this was a premeditated move.

Twitter avatar for @AlecStappAlec 🌐 @AlecStapp
PlayStation, Xbox, and Nintendo all demand control & 30% fee from developers. So why is Epic Games suing only Apple & Google? Because most players use consoles, not mobile, according to a 2019 study: • 71% on consoles • 17% on PC • 12% on mobile
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August 15th 2020

11 Retweets61 Likes

šŸ¤” Apple’s value has been diminishing

Apple has been taking 30% tax on revenue from developers for 12 years. Has Apple been providing developers that much value consistently all this time?

Nope.

And that’s why Epic (and Hey) has been outspoken lately.

At the launch of the App Store in 2008, there were only 500 apps. Apple’s 30% revenue cut and $99/year developer fee really did go a long way. There weren’t many other products to help developers with payments, discovery, and all the other things that Apple did.

Things have changed.

Twitter avatar for @AwkwardTurtleChristianHa @AwkwardTurtle
What value are developers actually getting for 30%/15% of the App Store Cut? Used to be payment processing, licensing, organic app discovery, and more. But what worked for 500 apps in 2008 doesn’t work for 2mil+ apps in 2020.

August 16th 2020

1 Like

With 2.2 million apps in the App Store, developers are on their own when it comes to growth. At the same time, the explosion in developer tools and other products over the years has also made developers less dependent on Apple’s infrastructure and services.

This is the backdrop of Apple’s developer relations. Diminished value-add. Increased rent seeking.

Twitter avatar for @brian_armstrongBrian Armstrong @brian_armstrong
This is brilliant. Apple (we love you) but you had this coming. The App store has long been too restrictive. Apple is no fan of crypto either - they are currently blocking features in Coinbase apps like Earn, and Dapps, that are available to Android users. They can't ban us all

Tom Warren @tomwarren

Epic Games is trolling Apple with a "1984" Fortnite video. It's pretty... epic https://t.co/4a8DJfJa5b

August 14th 2020

280 Retweets1,528 Likes
Twitter avatar for @APomplianoPomp 🌪 @APompliano
Apple and Google removed Fortnite from their mobile app stores today. The future will be decentralized. Not because it is cool, but because it will be necessary.

August 14th 2020

643 Retweets3,641 Likes

🦮 Underdogs usually become abusers eventually

YouTuber Jim Sterling had a great take (via Daring Fireball):

Screw the lot of them. Yes, Apple and Google need taking down from their high towers. Yes, Epic Games has a point as it sues to keep Fortnite on mobile devices. But absolutely all of them are as bad as each other.

It’s the natural order of things for underdogs to become abusers. As it was said, ā€œabsolute power corrupts absolutely.ā€

Apple’s original ad was attacking IBM for its abuses and now Epic is using the same ad to attack Apple.

$17B Epic has a long way to go before it reaches $2T Apple’s scale. That said, it’s not inconceivable that we’d see another ad in the future blaming Epic.

šŸ“š Further reading

Twitter avatar for @mario_gabriele_Mario 🦊 @mario_gabriele_
Fortnite is standing up to Google and Apple. They're offering 20% discounts to players that buy digital currency in the app, bypassing the payment systems of Big Tech. This is a thread about the game's humble beginnings. šŸ‘‡ (All likes + RTs appreciated! šŸ™)
Image

August 13th 2020

51 Retweets262 Likes
Twitter avatar for @parsa_sParsa Saljoughian @parsa_s
I thought Epic’s blackout marketing event last year was genius but this might top it. Curiously waiting Apple’s response.
ā€˜Fortnite’ Goes Dark: A Masterful Marketing Stroke by Epic GamesOn Sunday, ā€œFortniteā€ — the most popular game on Earth right now — without warning, imploded into darkness. At around 2 p.m. ET on Oct. 13, a meteor in Season 10 of ā€œF…variety.com

August 13th 2020

1 Like

If you’re enjoying this, feel free to ✨smash that subscribe button ✨ and share with your friends. Also go follow Christian Handley on Twitter.


šŸ’‰ Quick dopamine hits

Twitter avatar for @prestonatteberyPreston ✨ @prestonattebery
IG took 8 weeks to code FB, 2 weeks Houseparty, 8 weeks A social app that takes longer probably won’t work

August 10th 2020

30 Retweets329 Likes
Twitter avatar for @webWeb Smith @web
This is the most remarkable graph in business. The argument against it is that the denominator has changed (traditional retail suffered). A proxy: In 1908, the denominator changed for the horse market as competition rose with the boom of Ford Motors. A generational shift:
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July 28th 2020

65 Retweets263 Likes
Twitter avatar for @DCoolicanD’Arcy Coolican @DCoolican
Virality šŸ‘ and šŸ‘ network šŸ‘ effects šŸ‘ are šŸ‘ not šŸ‘ the šŸ‘ same šŸ‘ thing Virality reduces the barrier to entry, network effects increase the barrier to exit.

August 11th 2020

42 Retweets324 Likes
Twitter avatar for @andrewchenAndrew Chen @andrewchen
Trending searches by state between 2018 to 2020. Just zoom ahead to early 2020 to see the shootout between: - the weeknd - coronavirus - tiger king - elon musk Fascinating visualization.
Image

August 9th 2020

39 Retweets175 Likes
Twitter avatar for @ericosiuEric Siu @ericosiu
Required reading for CEOs: - The Hard Thing About Hard Things @bhorowitz - Startup CEO @mattblum - The Great CEO Within @mattmochary - Five Temptations of a CEO @PatrickLen - Multipliers @LizWiseman - What The Heck is EOS @EOSWorldwide What else?
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August 13th 2020

3 Retweets19 Likes

šŸ“š Deep reads

Tweetstorms, discussions and articles if you have the time.

Twitter avatar for @vergeThe Verge @verge
Uber may shut down in California if forced to classify drivers as employees, CEO says
theverge.com/2020/8/12/2136…
Image

August 12th 2020

114 Retweets552 Likes
Twitter avatar for @JulianJulian Shapiro @Julian
Iā€˜m interested in the psychology of the retweet. What do you think gets people to retweet instead of just like your tweet?

August 10th 2020

28 Retweets295 Likes
Twitter avatar for @eriktorenbergErik Torenberg @eriktorenberg
More summary on the current state of universities: What's college bundle? - skills & training - adventure for young adults - dating service - sports complex attached to a hedge fund - credential - how employers delegate personality testing so they don't get in trouble for it

Erik Torenberg @eriktorenberg

I agree. Colleges are screwed. The elite ones aren't screwed. They'll be fine. But their best days are behind them. Competitors will emerge, and they'll lose cultural dominance. They're like a tech incumbent harvesting what remains of its monopoly, but no longer innovating šŸ‘‡ https://t.co/amusFGPKpu

August 15th 2020

20 Retweets122 Likes
Twitter avatar for @anquetilMartin Anquetil @anquetil
I wrote my first long essay! There's been lots of buzz around the Passion Economy recently, so I decided to dive into why it matters and why now is the perfect time to get involved. Here are the 4 big trends ā¬‡ļø
šŸŽØ The Passion Economy: Why Now?Or, why you might want to become a creator!anquetil.substack.com

August 10th 2020

47 Retweets285 Likes
Twitter avatar for @anothercohenAlex Cohen @anothercohen
In 2015, I went out to fundraise as a first-time founder. I was recently graduated and had been working on my startup for a year full time. Here's everything I did wrong:

August 11th 2020

722 Retweets2,564 Likes

āœŒļø Thanks

Shout out again to Christian Handley for helping pull this week’s story together!

Twitter avatar for @__socialstudiessocial studies @__socialstudies
A video game and a Korean pop group have been reshaping American culture lately. Who would have thought?
Image

August 17th 2020

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šŸ‘‰ The Epic Conspiracy (w/ Christian Handley)
socialstudies.substack.com
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