The logo of
The lawsuit between Apple and Epic Games has also involved some previously unknown industry secrets.As a witness for the Epic side, Microsoft recently announcedtestimonyIt details the difficulties encountered by the xCloud game streaming service when logging in to the iOS platform. In Apple’s view, the original iOS version of the xCloud solution has the possibility of allowing users to bypass the iOS in-app purchase mechanism, which they obviously cannot accept. Regarding this, Lori Wright, the head of Microsoft’s business development, said in the court that Microsoft has actually prepared a lot of technical means for this, and provided a special financial plan to ensure that Apple can get game sales.
However, from Microsoft’s point of view, apps such as Netflix and Shadow (Windows 10 PC simulator on iOS) provide “interactive” features similar to xCloud, but the App Store has not shut them out like it did with xCloud. . “We gave examples of (similar in nature) games or apps that exist in the store. We can’t understand why xCloud can’t be like them.” Wright said.
The final result of this matter was that Microsoft abandoned the development of the xCloud iOS app and instead used the browser version to achieve the goal of “curving the country to save the country.” “The problem is that people don’t use the browser on the iPhone to play games. Looking at the data, you know that the games are from the App Store. People don’t go to the iPhone browser to play games.” Wright said.
In response, Apple quoted commenters saying that xCloud provides a “very reliable” and “extremely complete” experience on Safari. At the same time, it also emphasized that when Microsoft brought xCloud to the iOS store, they gave free development support. Just to use Wright’s words, this “perfect” state was achieved by Microsoft “with great effort”, and they had to “re-develope from scratch.”
Faced with Epic’s allegations, Apple argued that if the App Store is considered a monopoly, then most mainstream game console platforms, including Microsoft Xbox, have a monopoly. Microsoft will have a 12% rake in the Xbox store on the PC side, but the rake rate for console games has also reached 30%. Wright’s explanation for this is that the reason for the difference is that the PC is a “universal” device like the iPhone, while the Xbox and other consoles have a “special purpose.”
Wright believes that games are only an application for PCs or mobile phones, so Microsoft allows multiple different stores (including Epic) on the Windows 10 platform, and does not restrict the way games and apps are installed. “But Xbox is specifically designed to provide you with a gaming experience.” Wright said, “People buy Xbox because they want to play games.” At the same time, Wright also stated that simply selling Xbox consoles will not bring Microsoft profits. , This is only part of the whole end-to-end experience. “Part of the 30% rake is used to build consoles.” Wright said, “This is necessary for hosting. In the long run, we need to rely on game sales and subscriptions to make money.”
In its response, Apple mentioned that the Xbox platform also has apps with different uses such as Netflix, YouTube, and Spotify, and said that the Xbox Store essentially violates the principles of Microsoft’s Windows Store. In this regard, Wright once again mentioned that “people do not buy Xbox to watch Netflix”, and said that the principle difference between the two platforms is based on “how they are used and how many people are using them.”