on the crypto
As lawmakers and privacy advocates continue to systematically push for revisions to antitrust rules for four of the biggest tech companies, some big names in the gaming industry could speed up the process.
A fight between titans
This is one of the initial conclusions of the legal experts and developers following the lawsuit of Epic Games Inc. against Apple Inc. AAPL and GOOGL of Alphabet Inc., GOOG of Google for the expulsion of Epic's hit video game "Fortnite" from the app stores.
The ousting of "Fortnite" came after Epic publicly announced an offer for players on in-game purchases if payments were made directly on Epic. Epic's size and market influence could be the impetus to step up antitrust investigations, said Ram Mohan, chief operating officer of Afilias Inc.
"Clearly, for the first time, there is a company that has the ability to challenge the rules that Apple and Google have created," Mohan said. Pointing out Epic's position, Spotify Technology Inc. (SPOT) and Match Group Inc. (MTCH) quickly offered supportive statements, and Facebook Inc. (FB) later claimed that Apple refused to publicly admit its commission of the 30% on a new Facebook paid feature for online events.
Epic could change the outcome of the investigation
In a bigger picture, Epic represents a video game industry that could prove to be a game changer for actions by federal lawmakers, who have faced CEOs of Apple, Facebook, Google and Amazon.com Inc. (AMZN) - all Nasdaq shares - in a landmark antitrust hearing last month, as well as for separate investigations by the Department of Justice, the Federal Trade Commission, and the state attorneys general. Microsoft Corp. (MSFT) has criticized Apple for its stance on cloud gaming apps that the iPhone maker does not allow on the App Store for apparent violations of its guidelines.
Public or private process?
Apple's inflexible stance on video games - and the pushback of developers, both small and large - is the kind of scenario that fuels antitrust pressure on Apple and Google to change their operations on the platform, said Rebecca Allensworth, a law professor at Vanderbilt University.
"The Antitrust has always had a dual system of enforcement: private like the Epic lawsuits and public like the FTC and DoJ investigations," Allensworth said. "Businesses feel the greatest pressure when they are under both types of scrutiny."
Antitrust attorney Jonathan Rubin adds: "What the Epic lawsuit suggests is that private markets organized within the confines of a private company should also be subject to antitrust scrutiny."
"When the titans face the titans, you know there is a problem and it gets people's attention," he told Jamie Court, president of the nonprofit Consumer Watchdog.
