Apple’s 15% Decision and How It Changes Epic’s Fight

Recently Apple announced that developers who make less then $1 million in revenue per year can apply to a reduced App Store charge from 30% to 15%. This seems to be a direct response to Epic Games’ exodus from the App Store and the related lawsuit accusing Apple’s 30% cut and the App Store of being anti-competition. Epic’s fight has been backed by many big names like Spotify and Tile and they have joined together with many other companies to create the Coalition for App Fairness. This seemed to fall on deaf ears at Apple, as they made no big decisions with the App Store following Epic’s lawsuit. This was until two weeks ago on November 18, 2020, when Apple announced that they would reduce the 30% cut to those making less then $1 million per year and would allow 98% of developers to apply according to Sensor Tower, an analytics company. This is big for smaller developers allowing users to sign up for services and buy in-app purchases on the App Store, helping both developers and users. This does not help bigger developers like Epic who have lined their pockets with thousands from App Store purchases, and that seems to be Apple’s design. For years, developers have been trying to fight Apple’s App Store monopoly and the 30% cut, but Epic’s seemed to have the best chance by getting the general user involved. It’s a lot easier to convince people to fight to bring their favorite game back then the complexity of the App Store and anti-trust. This changes with this decision. We have note seen a large outcome, but this could make it difficult for Epic to convince everyone they’re fighting for the small guy who doesn’t have the weight Epic does. This makes it look like Epic’s more in to make more money then fight for fairness in the space. While this could potentially benefit Apple, it also is not really a big risk. The 98% of developers who would qualify for the program only account for about 5% of the App Store’s revenue, leaving the other 95% from big businesses like Epic. If Epic can create the right narrative and show that this decision really makes no difference at Apple, they could retake control of this and push Apple to make more drastic decisions. This decision seems small, but it could affect how apps work for years to come.