Source: Epic Games
Epic CEO Tim Sweeney believes that Apple is the main “obstacle to the vision of the Epic metaverse.”
On Thursday, Epic Games discussed its plans for the metaverse at the 2023 Game Developers Conference. The company believes that the metaverse should be open and that “it can’t be just another walled garden.”
The “walled garden” claim is a direct blow to Apple. Sweeney regularly voiced this sentiment during Epic’s long fight against Apple’s App Store policy.
In an interview with GameIndustry, Sweeney spoke about his concerns.
“[Apple will] either try to crush the metaverse, or extract all the profits from it. One or the other. Apple does not allow you to use a competing browser engine. So they can do the same with the metaverse, so [they] might say “You have to use Apple’s limited metaverse engine, you can’t make your own, you can’t use Unreal.”
It’s unclear why Sweeney thinks Unreal Engine won’t be allowed by Apple in any AR or VR implementation. It is currently in development for iPhone and Mac and is unlikely to be banned in the future.
“If we just build this thing in an open environment, then companies can live off their merits,” Sweeney added. “We really like it because we have a history of winning essentially when we were given a chance, and we are terribly disappointed in markets like iOS, where you just can’t create an Epic Games Store for iOS, because Apple says: “You you can.” don’t compete with us!”
He says he believes strong antitrust laws are the only way forward and that Epic will lead the charge against Apple’s influence on the market.
“We believe that they completely dominate this business if they are allowed to use their market power and equipment to do so. So we are fighting it. I think all other problems can be overcome.”
Sweeney has been speaking out against Apple for some time now, but his feud escalated after Fortnite was removed from the App Store. It was removed after Epic violated its agreement with the developer by implementing a way for users to bypass the 30% fee.
Apple’s mixed reality headset is rumored to be unveiled at WWDC 2023. The yet-to-be-announced headset is expected to be a wearable visor with mixed reality software. It will be a home computer capable of moving the user to different places for work or play.