The court proceedings and the documents that they were required to disclose were surely bad for PR and now it looks like they won't even keep the monetary benefits.
Epic are more motivated by transferring the excess profits of Apple into modest profits for developers, who then redistribute 5% of their revenues (as part of the Unreal Engine license) back to Epic.
I wonder if Epic will sue Steam and console developers next...
Epic sells Unreal to Sony and Microsoft, so suing them is probably unlikely. But Valve could definitely be the next target.
Why would Epic sue Steam?
Fornite isnt on Steam, because it doesn't need to be. It's the platform (Windows) working in a competitive way!
Valve would simply refer the judge to their rather-successful competitors, including:
- Epic Game Store
- Origin
- Blizzard Store
- Microsoft Store
- GoG
- Itch.io
- Ubisoft Store
- Bethesda Store
And to further their point, Valve would show how many games on Steam are found on other stores, and Valve doesn't prevent other companies from listing games on other stores.
Valve does not have a monopoly; not by a long shot.
However Steam is not a walled garden. Feel like they charge too much? Go to itch.io or make your own website with Paypal button. It is your machine, your OS.
When you dive into Steam, you'll see that it hasn't really changed in a decade. Valve are basically sitting back happy with the $billions pouring in each year owing to their 'first mover'/monopoly position.
On the claim that Epic won, the courts finding on standing is already "just barely"
> Thus, although the question is close, the Court finds that Epic Games has standing to bring a UCL claim as a quasi-consumer, not merely as a competitor.