Epic's Victory Emote

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Happy Thursday, folks.

Heads up, will be writing just a single Premium newsletter next week.

Honestly, not even cause I want to take a break. Chances are I’ll still be writing lol.

I just learned when I sent a newsletter on Thanksgiving that nobody checks their emails on holidays, and honestly, proud of you guys.

Tim Sweeney is Emoting All Over Sundar Rn

If you thought Fortnite endgame scenarios were adrenaline-boosters, parent company Epic Games’ recent act of heroism might cause your heart to burst all the way out of your chest.

Epic pulled off a real-life Victory Royale against Father Google for its Play Store shenanigan, a drastically different outcome than that seen by the company in its similar act of war against Apple.

The jury determined that Google was a bit more "creative" with its Play Store policies than Apple, and unlike your teacher’s favorite snack, the defendant left a paper trail, or, certain pieces of paper were mysteriously missing/deleted. Rookie mistake.

There was also an issue of Google’s non-uniform policies regarding its marketplace, striking special deals with specific companies like it did with Spotify, and ironically, Apple’s closed off, standardized ecosystem which does not allow for other players actually helped the company to avoid antitrust accusations.

After just three hours of deliberation (52 hours shorter than Britney Spears and Jason Alexander’s marriage), the gavel was aggressively swung down on Google's Play Store monopoly by a likely overzealous judicial official, taking Epic’s side in claiming that Google's 30% commission on in-app purchases and dev strong-arming gatekeeping made the company guilty of antitrust antics.

This verdict could be the Wonka golden ticket (Depp, not Chalamet) for app developers, especially those in the in-app purchases realm. It’s a certainty that the app makers will get a bigger piece of the pie that is created by their hard work, and we might be even closer to app stores and marketplaces offering fairer terms and possibly lower fees.

There aren’t exactly an abundance of marketplaces for apps to list their products on, and given the number of people using Apple or Google products, there’s a built-in network effect that provides immense leverage to squeeze additional revenue out of developers. Thus, the whopping 30% cut that both Apple and Google have wielded have become the standard.

Now, the ball’s in Judge James Donato's court. Extreme case, he forces Google to loosen its grip on the app store economy, though Google’s prepping an appeal to prevent the shifting plates beneath their feet. Given the company’s aforementioned paper trail, there’s a strong chance that the ruling holds, and the current administration and FTC Chairperson Lina Khan are sure to voice their support of the crackdown given their antitrust agenda.

App stores have been a critical means of distribution for many companies. This ruling, should it hold, has the potential to make that channel even more attractive for startups that offer in-app purchases, so it’s certainly worth keeping an eye on over the next few months.

Cheers to another day,

Trey