亚泰史诗_史诗对谷歌和苹果应用商店的攻击：绝佳时机

亚泰史诗

The dispute between Epic Games and Apple and Google’s app stores is the result of a calculated and well-timed attack by the creator of Fortnite, with the intention of changing the current balance of forces in that environment, which it considers contrary to its interests.

Epic Games与Apple和Google的应用商店之间的纠纷是Fortnite的创建者精心策划并及时进行的攻击的结果，目的是改变该环境中当前的力量平衡，认为这违背了其利益。

The background to this will be familiar to many readers: Epic Games, partially owned by Chinese giant Tencent, and creators of the most successful game development platform, Unreal Engine, along with the hugely popular Fortnite, have set up a direct payment method so their users can make purchases in their games by skipping the Apple and Google’s payment gateways, which allows them to avoid the commissions that Apple and Google charge for these operations. In addition, Epic has lowered the prices of its products. The problem? Basically, that these kind of direct payment methods are expressly forbidden by the two app stores, and as a consequence, both Apple and Google automatically expelled Fortnite from their App Store and Play Market.

许多读者会熟悉这种背景 ： Epic Games (中国巨人腾讯部分拥有)以及最成功的游戏开发平台的创建者， 虚幻引擎 ( Unreal Engine )以及广受欢迎的Fortnite ，已经建立了直接付款方式，因此他们用户可以通过跳过Apple和Google的支付网关在游戏中进行购买，从而避免了Apple和Google为这些操作收取的佣金。 此外， Epic还降低了其产品的价格 。 问题？ 基本上，这两种应用商店都明确禁止使用这种直接付款方式，因此， Apple和Google都自动将Fortnite从其App Store和Play Market驱逐出境 。

In response to this move by Apple and Google, provoked and anticipated by Epic, the company has posted a video, obviously prepared in advance, in which it parodies Apple’s advertisement broadcasted during the 1984 Super Bowl, considered by some the best spot in history.

为了响应Epic激怒和期望的Apple和Google的这一举动，该公司发布了一段显然是事先准备好的视频 ，其中模仿了苹果公司 在1984年超级碗比赛中播出的广告 ，被某些人认为是历史上最好的广告位 。

演示地址

In addition, Epic is suing Apple and Google for violation of antitrust laws. This carefully prepared move, involving some of the best-known and most prestigious antitrust lawyers, mobilizes Fortnite’s 350 million players worldwide against Apple and Google behind a campaign organized around the hashtag #FREEFORTNITE, painting itself as the victim fighting to improve life for app developers (the company is not claiming economic damages or better treatment for itself).

此外， Epic还起诉苹果和谷歌 违反反托拉斯法。 这项精心准备的举动涉及一些最著名和最负盛名的反托拉斯律师， 动员了Fortnite的全球3.5亿玩家反对Apple和Google ，围绕着#FREEFORTNITE标签组织了一场运动 ，将自己描绘成为改善应用程序开发人员的生活而奋斗的受害者(公司不主张经济损失或对其自身给予更好的待遇 )。

Epic has timed the move carefully: two weeks after the big tech companies’ bosses appeared before the US Congress, and with the Department of Justice working flat out on the case, using a mountain of relevant documentation. The move also comes at a time when much of the technology industry is outraged by the changes Apple plans to make to iOS 14, which could seriously damage many companies’ advertising revenues.

Epic谨慎地决定了此举的时机： 在大型科技公司的老板出现在美国国会两周之后，司法部正在使用大量相关文件来平息 此案 。 苹果公司计划对iOS 14进行的更改激怒了许多技术行业，而这可能会严重损害许多公司的广告收入，此举也正值这一时期。

There are some precedents here: in 2018, Epic launched a similar offensive against the gaming platform Steam, which included the launch of its own platform, the Epic Games Store for Windows and MacOS, with a 12% commission instead of Steam’s 30%. In 2019, Spotify sued Apple in the European Union for charging a 30% commission while competing against it on advantageous terms with Apple Music. These may well influence the judges overseeing the lawsuit against Google and Apple in favor of Epic.

这里有一些先例： 2018年，Epic针对游戏平台Steam发起了类似的攻势 ，其中包括推出了自己的平台，Windows和MacOS的Epic Games Store，佣金为12％，而不是Steam的30％。 在2019年， Spotify在欧盟起诉Apple收取30％的佣金，同时与Apple Music以有利的条件与其竞争。 这些都可能影响负责监督针对Epic的针对Google和Apple的诉讼的法官。

This time around, it seems unlikely that this will be settled out of court. Epic seems to be trying to take advantage of the tech giants’ unpopularity among the public and legislators, reflecting the deeply held beliefs of its founder, Tim Sweeney, that they are abusing their position.

这次，似乎不太可能在庭外和解。 Epic似乎正试图利用科技巨头在公众和立法者中不受欢迎的优势，反映出其创始人蒂姆·斯威尼 ( Tim Sweeney) 坚信自己正在滥用职权。

Obviously, Apple and Google will defend the policies of their app stores by pointing out the possible security problem for users if apps set up their own payment gateways. That said, defending user security while charging a third of what developers do and being practically the only alternative as a distribution channel will be a hard case to make.

显然，苹果和谷歌将通过指出如果应用程序设置了自己的支付网关可能给用户带来的安全问题，来捍卫其应用程序商店的政策。 话虽这么说，但要保证用户安全，同时还要收取开发人员三分之一的费用，并且实际上是作为发行渠道的唯一选择将是很难做到的。

Epic is a leader in the videogames industry, but this is no game, and should be followed carefully: it will probably end up having much greater repercussions than initially appeared.

Epic是视频游戏行业的领导者，但这不是游戏，应该仔细遵循：它最终可能会比最初出现更大的影响。

This article was previously published on Forbes.

本文先前已在《福布斯》上发表。

(En español, aquí)

( Enespañol ， aquí )

翻译自: https://medium.com/enrique-dans/epics-attack-on-google-and-apple-s-app-stores-brilliant-timing-9fb3a64d35c3

亚泰史诗