Epic Games took on Apple and Google in a very public way last week to protest what it believes are monopolistic app store policies. But Epic was prepared for the fight in part because it knows how to make a spectacle, having already pulled off massive in-game events like the appearance of a giant rolling cube and a volcano eruption. The studio applied tactics it has perfected to hype those events…
One of the more popular indie survival games on PC and consoles is finally coming to Switch. Subnautica is launching on Nintendo’s hybrid home/handheld system in 2021. Developer Unknown Worlds Entertainment is also planning to launch the sequel, Subnautica: Below Zero, on…
The lineup of big Nintendo games is a little light at the moment, but at least we have some indie games to keep Switch owners busy. During its most recent Indie World Showcase, Nintendo showed off a number of high-profile titles coming to its tablet, including a handful of…
Apple fires back at Epic: ‘We won’t make an exception’
August 18, 2020
Apple has responded to Epic Games’ latest salvo in the ongoing dispute between the two companies. Epic had said that Apple is threatening to revoke its access to iOS and Mac developer tools by removing it from the Apple Developer Program unless it cuts a rule-violating payment processing option that it snuck into Fortnite.
“We very much want to keep the company as part of the Apple Developer…
The Genki Covert Dock is like buying shipping insurance. Sure, you can find ways to save a little money, but those come with risks. And at a certain point in life, you learn that it’s always worth it to buy the insurance. Likewise, it’s probably worth it to pony up the…
On this week’s episode of How Games Make Money, ID@Xbox director Chris Charla joins host Jeff Grubb to talk about publishing indie games. ID@Xbox is Microsoft’s dedicated indie-developer program. And Charla has helped to oversee it since it replaced Xbox Live Arcade in…
Google today announced that Chrome for Android’s context menu will show “Fast page” labels for webpages deemed to have good performance. The label will be determined using Google’s Web Vitals, an initiative the company announced in May to provide web developers and website owners with a unified set of metrics for building websites with user experience and performance in mind. Core Web…
Epic says Apple threatens ‘catastrophic’ response in two weeks if Fortnite doesn’t comply with rules
August 18, 2020
Epic says that Apple has threatened to cut off its access to all iOS and Mac developer tools as retaliation for sneaking a new payment option into Fortnite last week — a stunt that ended in the app being banned from the App Store and Epic filing a blockbuster antitrust…
Nintendo will show 20 minutes of indie Switch games tomorrow
August 17, 2020
Although it’s been almost a year since the last full-blown Nintendo Direct, the company has run a number of smaller digital presentations since then. The latest is another Indie World Showcase, which Nintendo will stream at noon ET on Tuesday.
It’ll include about 20…
Epic’s Fortnite standoff is putting Apple’s cash cow at risk
August 17, 2020
Apple and Epic Games have gone to war, with the two companies clashing over Apple’s App Store policies. Epic, in protest of Apple’s 30 percent fee for any digital transactions on its iOS platform, attempted to circumvent things with a direct payment option in Fortnite, leading Apple to ban the game entirely. But Apple’s Fortnite fight isn’t just over a particular policy for the App Store…
