Fortnite is a software platform and the market is part of the software.
Apple is an Hardware company which also chose the software you can run on it, which also owns the only market where you can buy software for.
That's a pretty different situation.
TLDR: Apple can sell Apple stuff exclusively on their e-store, they shouldn't force third party developers to sell their stuff only on their mobile store.
Because it's the part that people should own after they bought it.
You can play Fortnite without buying anything on the Epic store.
You can't use an iPhone without being forced by Apple to use the device the way they want.
Many probably like it that way, that's not the point, the point is that if Safari is the root of many exploit for iOS (https://twitter.com/Zerodium/status/1260541578747064326) users cannot disable it and replace it with something else, something more secure
That completely hinder the free (as in freedom) utilization of the device
> If Epic sold a "Fortnite tablet" would this somehow change the legality of Epic's monopoly on selling digital items in Fortnite?
Of course it would!
It would be a monopoly nonetheless
Even though a table that can only play Fortnite cannot clearly be classified as general computing platform.
But it would probably be based on Android, being iOS not available for third parties, and allow sideloading.
The same point could be made about Amazon and the Kindle, but Amazon allows self publishing and direct sell for free.
Why? Is that just an arbitrary principle? Why should "hardware" be something we have absolute control over, but "software" is not?
> You can play Fortnite without buying anything on the Epic store.
You can use an iPhone without using the App Store. But in both cases, it's probably just not as good of an experience.
> You can't use an iPhone without being forced by Apple to use the device the way they want.
That seems like some rhetorical gymnastics that could be applied to any product or service. You can't use cheating software in Fortnite either (or at least they presumably have measures in place to prevent it).
> Of course it would!
Okay, then you're consistent. I'll give you that. Presumably you think courts should require manufacturers of literally all electronic devices to provide an easy way for owners to run any software they want?
I don't disagree with the general sentiment but
1) hardware is your property, you buy it and you should be able to use it the way you want. Also it's harder to replace it, you can easily change the gas station, it's harder to change a car.
2) the problem with Apple (but also Google Play store in many ways) is that you buy hardware capable of doing something that the software doesn't permit. Not because it's not capable of doing it, but because the manufacturer don't want you to use it that way.
But in the general you're right, I'm a big advocate of free software, and I've been since the middle 90s, because I think you should have total control over it. Including changing the parts that don't fit your needs.
I'm also in favour of using cheats if you want to, but in a tournament things have to be fair and that's where I think you shouldn't use them, in the same way I think doping at the Olympic games should not be allowed.