#FreeFortnite的卑鄙本质

Apple’s policies are horrendous, but Epic Games’ creation of their own false narrative shouldn’t go unnoticed.

苹果公司的政策太可怕了，但史诗游戏公司自己的虚假叙述的创造也不容忽视。

On August 13th, 2020, Epic Games implemented a permanent discount on V-bucks, the primary paid currency in their hit game Fortnite. With discounts of up to 20 percent on purchases, this move generated quite a bit of good publicity and hubbub for Fortnite and its distributor, Epic Games.

2020 年 8月13日，Epic Games对热门游戏Fortnite中的主要支付货币V-bucks实施了永久折扣。 由于购买折扣高达20％ ，此举为Fortnite及其分销商Epic Games带来了良好的宣传和反响 。

This move came with a rather large cost. On the very same day, Apple took Fornite off the App Store for “violating the App Store guidelines that are applied equally to every developer and designer to keep the store safe for our users.” More specifically, in order to implement the V-bucks discounts that many users craved, Epic Games chose to implement its own payment system in the iOS and Android versions of Fortnite. This payment system bypassed Apple’s own in-app payment system, meaning that Apple would no longer receive their juicy 30 percent cut of V-bucks purchases through the iOS version.

此举付出了相当大的代价。 在同一天， Apple取消了Fornite的App Store，因为它“违反了平等地适用于每个开发人员和设计师的App Store指南，以确保商店对我们的用户安全”。 更具体地说，为了实现许多用户渴望的V-bucks折扣，Epic Games选择在Fortnite的iOS和Android版本中实现自己的支付系统。 该支付系统绕过了苹果自己的应用内支付系统，这意味着苹果将不再通过iOS版本获得30％的V-bucks折扣。

善后 (The Aftermath)

After being removed from the App Store (as well as the Play Store, the Google equivalent of Apple’s App Store), the Fortnite community, as well as the tech community in general, entered an uproar. While criticisms of Apple’s 30 percent cut of in-app purchases had been aired by many long before the Fortnite situation, the sheer scale of media attention on Apple’s pay policies had never been greater.

从App Store(以及Google苹果App Store的Google Play商店)中删除后 ， Fortnite社区以及整个技术社区都大为震惊 。 尽管在Fortnite形势发生之前就已经有许多人批评苹果将应用程序内购买削减30％的批评，但媒体对苹果公司薪酬政策的关注从未像现在这样大。

In the time since Epic Games made their first move on the 13th, the situation has developed rapidly. Epic Games has begun the process of suing Apple over the “anti-competitive nature” of their policies. Furthermore, this lawsuit should not be overlooked as a PR move; Epic Games has brought on the counsel of many legal experts, including former US assistant attorney general Christine Varney, and antitrust litigator Katherine Forrest.

自从Epic Games在13日迈出第一步以来，这种情况发展Swift。 Epic Games已开始就其政策的“反竞争性质”起诉苹果。 此外，不应将此诉讼视为公关举动。 Epic Games聘请了许多法律专家的律师，包括前美国助理司法部长克里斯汀·瓦尼(Christine Varney)和反托拉斯诉讼人凯瑟琳·福雷斯特(Katherine Forrest)。

Additionally, companies such as Spotify filed similar antitrust lawsuits earlier this year, so in all likelihood, this entire situation will have long-lasting effects on the App Store, as well as general mobile distribution platform rules and regulations.

此外，Spotify等公司在今年早些时候提起了类似的反托拉斯诉讼，因此，这种情况很可能会对App Store以及通用移动分发平台规则和法规产生长期影响。

史诗的虚伪 (Epic’s Disingenuousness)

While it should be clear that Epic’s actions and the following lawsuit have reasonable grounds — after all, Apple’s 30 percent cut on in-app purchases is rather substantial, to say the least — Epic’s actions during this whole debacle have been anything but genuine and straight-forward.

虽然应该清楚，Epic的举动和随后的诉讼有合理的理由-毕竟，至少可以说，苹果将应用内购买削减了30％，这至少是相当可观的-在整个崩溃期间，Epic的举动并非真实而直截了当。 -前锋。

To begin with, the intent behind the initial act of implementing a V-bucks discount through bypassing the App Store’s purchase model must be questioned. Beyond a doubt, Epic Games had to be expecting retaliation by Apple if they proceeded with bypassing the App Store’s rules on in-app purchases, and yet they did so anyways.

首先，必须质疑通过绕过App Store的购买模型来实现V-bucks折扣的最初行为的意图。 毫无疑问，如果Epic Games绕过App Store关于应用内购买的规定，他们必须期待苹果的报复，但无论如何他们还是这样做。

So why did they do it? According to Epic Games themselves, Apples’ actions are “anti-competitive restrictions on mobile device marketplaces,” with Epic Games CEO Tim Sweeney stating, “[Epic is] fighting for open platforms and policy changes equally benefiting all developers.”

那么为什么要这么做呢？ 根据Epic Games本身的说法，Apple的行为是“对移动设备市场的反竞争限制，” Epic Games首席执行官Tim Sweeney表示 ：“ [Epic正在为开放平台而战，政策变化同样使所有开发人员受益。”

Well, that sounds like a valiant cause. If this is the case, why hasn’t Epic Games challenged other companies such as Sony and Microsoft? These companies have also charged absurd royalties on games like Fortnite, and maintain relatively closed platforms.

好吧，这听起来像是一个英勇的事业。 如果是这样，为什么Epic Games不会挑战索尼和微软等其他公司？ 这些公司还对Fortnite之类的游戏收取了荒谬的版税，并维持相对封闭的平台。

Point being, Epic Games and their CEO do not appear to be in this fight for “all developers” as they claim, and their corporate casus belli against Apple is likely more about cold hard cash, rather than freedom and equal benefits.

值得注意的是，Epic Games及其首席执行官似乎并未像他们声称的那样在为“所有开发人员”而展开的斗争中，他们对苹果的企业争端更可能是冷钱，而不是自由和平等利益。

“十九八十堡垒” (“Nineteen Eighty-Fortnite”)

On the very same day that Fortnite offered their 20 percent discounts (the same day that Apple took Fortnite off their store, as well), Fortnite released “Nineteen Eighty-Fortnite,” a parody of Apple’s 1984 advertisement, which hearkened back to George Orwell’s dystopian novel, 1984.

在Fortnite提供20％折扣的同一天(苹果也将Fortnite从其商店下架的同一天)，Fortnite发布了“ 十九点八十堡垒 ”，模仿了苹果公司1984年的广告 ，并回想起了乔治·奥威尔(George Orwell)的广告。反乌托邦小说， 1984年。

In the video, Epic claims that they have “defied the App Store Monopoly,” and calls on viewers to “… join the fight to stop 2020 from becoming ‘1984’.”

在视频中，Epic声称他们已经“垄断了App Store的垄断地位”，并呼吁观众“……参加阻止2020年成为'1984'的斗争。”

A rather audacious claim, especially during a year where the threat of the COVID-19 is being used to push for stronger facial recognition software, and folks in Portland are being taken off the streets by unmarked federal agents. It is not only disingenuous, but also distasteful, and damn-near offensive that Epic Games would compare the severity of their corporate war to the severity of a dystopian future.

这是一个相当大胆的主张，尤其是在使用COVID-19的威胁来推动更强大的面部识别软件的年份 ，而波特兰的人们正被未加标记的联邦特工带走街头。 Epic Games将其公司战争的严重程度与反乌托邦未来的严重程度进行比较，不仅是卑鄙的，而且是令人厌恶的，而且该死的近乎攻势。

The video ends with a simple call-to-action using the ever beloved hash-tagging of social media, “#FreeFortnite.” What is Fortnite being freed from? It seems like Fortnite has already been “freed” from the App Store, so what else is being freed here? The emancipation of Fortnite is a concern at the bottom of the barrel right now, especially because it is unclear what the game is being freed from. The bemusing nature of the hashtag is likely something Epic Games does not really care about elaborating upon. After all, they got their neat alliteration out of it, so that’s that.

该视频以简单的号召性用语结尾，它使用了广受欢迎的社交媒体“ #FreeFortnite”哈希标记。 Fortnite被解救了什么？ 似乎Fortnite已经从App Store中“释放”了，那么这里还有什么释放的呢？ 目前， Fortnite的解放一直是人们关注的焦点，特别是因为尚不清楚该游戏将释放什么。 标签的令人迷惑的性质可能是Epic Games并不真正在意的。 毕竟，他们从中得到了巧妙的修饰，仅此而已。

弱者不是弱者。 (The Underdog isn’t the Underdog.)

All of the actions taken by Epic Games during this circus of tomfoolery have had an underlying connecting theme, at least from a PR perspective: Epic Games represents the underdog, sticking it to “the Man” that Apple has become.

至少从PR的角度来看，Epic Games在这一骗局中所采取的所有行动都有一个潜在的联系主题：Epic Games代表了失败者，将其坚持为苹果已经成为的“男人”。

However, this couldn’t be any further from the truth. According to Wikipedia, Epic Games is valued at over 17.3 billion dollars this month (August 2020). Furthermore, Tencent Holdings Ltd, a Chinese conglomerate worth over 500 billion in 2018, holds a 40 percent share in Epic Games.

但是，这离事实还远。 根据维基百科的说法， Epic Games本月(2020年8月)的估值超过173亿美元 。 此外，2018年市值超过5000亿美元的中国企业集团腾讯控股有限公司持有Epic Games 40％的股份。

This is not David versus Goliath. This is Goliath versus another Goliath.

这不是大卫与歌利亚的对决。 这是歌利亚与另一个歌利亚。

这个故事的主旨 (The Moral of the Story)

It’s clear that Epic Games has acted in a disingenuous manner throughout this entire situation. So, does that mean that Apple (and Google) are in the clear? Absolutely not. To hold Epic Games liable for their deceptive nature does not mean that Apple is being given a free pass.

显然，在整个情况下，Epic Games的表现都是卑鄙的。 那么，这是否意味着苹果(和谷歌)是明确的？ 绝对不。 将Epic Games的欺骗性行为追究法律责任并不意味着Apple获得了免费通行证。

Society, and each individual therein, is capable of holding these entities responsible for their individual wrongdoings. Epic’s actions have brought up a clear issue surrounding the App Store, as well as the cut that big corporations such as Apple, Google, and others shave off from up-and-coming developers’ profits, and these companies and their actions should continually be scrutinized under the public eye.

社会以及其中的每个人都有能力使这些实体对自己的不法行为负责。 Epic的行为在App Store周围引起了明显的问题，以及苹果，谷歌等大公司从新兴的开发商的利润中削减的利益，这些公司及其行为应不断受到公众关注。

At the same time, due care should be given that other slimy companies such as Epic Games do not manage to enlist consumers into corporate wars lead on by catchy hashtags and video propaganda.

同时，应格外小心，如Epic Games之类的其他黏糊糊的公司，不会设法吸引消费者参加以醒目的标签和视频宣传为首的公司大战。

The lens of of justice and morality should be applied equally throughout the technology industry and society as a whole, not just against specific companies. Instead of giving-in to catchy hashtags, and the notion of brand loyalty, criticize cruddy business practices such as Apple’s when you see them, and call-out companies like Epic when they try to swindle their consumers into fighting their fights for them. It is the duty of every member of society to stay informed and hold companies and corporations accountable.

正义和道德的镜头应平等地应用于整个技术行业和整个社会，而不仅仅是针对特定的公司。 与其屈服于醒目的标签和品牌忠诚度的概念，不如批评苹果等卑鄙的商业行为，而像Epic这样的叫喊公司则试图诱骗消费者为之奋斗。 每个社会成员都有责任保持了解情况并追究公司和公司的责任。

翻译自: https://medium.com/the-innovation/the-disingenuous-nature-of-freefortnite-cb03bf3d0ad3