During a Y Combinator event on Wednesday 2nd April, 2025, Tim Sweeney, CEO of Epic Games which makes Fortnite and other developer tools, slammed Apple and Google as “gangster-style businesses” for their unlawful actions. Sweeney highlighted the impact of these companies’ practices on his own business, pointing out that they have discouraged users from downloading Epic’s Games Store software and hindered the company’s ability to attract developers to its products. Epic Games has notably been a key player in the battle against monopolies held by Big Tech in recent years.
The company filed a case against both Apple and Google for their monopolistic practices in their app stores. While Epic emerged victorious in its case against Google, it was not as successful with Apple. However, the court did mandate that Apple must open up to more competition by making changes to its App Store regulations. As a result, app developers can now include links to alternative purchasing methods instead of solely relying on Apple’s platform. Unfortunately, Epic is still engaged in legal battles with the tech giant over this ruling, claiming that Apple has violated the court’s order. Though developers are now allowed to process their own payments through the App Store, the 3% reduction in commission offered by Apple is insufficient for many app developers.
During the event onstage, Sweeney once again denounced the major tech corporations for their actions and their “malicious compliance” with the court’s rulings in a harmful manner.
According to Sweeney, “it’s a disappointing reality that Apple and Google can no longer be considered honest and law-abiding corporations.” Instead, “they operate in a manner similar to gangsters, using any means they can to their advantage. Even if it means breaking the law and facing a fine, they are willing to continue with illegal practices if it results in greater profits.”
The gaming executive cited how the tech companies’ actions negatively impacted his business. When Android users try to download the Epic Games Store onto their smartphones, they may encounter a warning from Google about its “unknown source” and potential harm to their device. According to Sweeney, this “scare screen” is designed to caution users against installing non-Play Store apps, but it causes 50-60% of them to give up on the installation.
iOS also experiences a comparable decrease in usage. While European regulations allow the Epic Games Store on the device, users attempting to install it are met with a warning from Apple. Sweeney said, as a result, drop-off rates of 50-60% seen once again.
He refers to the use of these screens as “textbook self-preferencing,” pointing out that the companies are able to “get away with it.”
According to him, tech giants benefit from criminal activity. He also made it clear that “this trend will continue unless enforcement becomes much, much more vigorous.”
Furthermore, the exec behind Fortnite stated that the reason for this is due to the challenges and costs involved with using third-party app stores on iOS. As a result, many prominent game developers have been reluctant to utilize the Epic Game Store as a means of distribution. Rather than charging their customary 30% fee, Apple lowers the fee but enforces a “core technology fee” of 50 cents per install annually for any app surpassing 1 million downloads.
Sweeney also said, “Unless your app is enormously high grossing per user, any free-to-play game is largely dissuaded from that.” It is simply too costly for them and Apple would potentially bankrupt them if they attempted it.
Although he did mention that the Epic Games Store on iOS has successfully drawn in some older games, there are also plans for the store to expand its offerings through developer submissions in the near future. This move is anticipated to further enhance the store’s catalog on both Android and iOS platforms.
