Japanese developers have come out against Apple and its policies amid a lawsuit by Epic Games

Apple has problems in Japan. Dozens of local developers have criticized the working conditions with the App Store — and it’s not about the 30% commission. Now the company from Cupertino will also be checked by the Japanese Antimonopoly Commission.The Bloomberg edition summarized the main dissatisfactions of the App Store from local developers.

If Epic Games, among other things, wants to achieve a reduction in commission, Japanese studios have other claims:

• developers complain that sometimes the check takes several weeks. One of the local studios has stopped holding seasonal events in its game because Apple has not considered updating them for more than a month;”Apple will never admit it, but sometimes it just forgets about a certain game in the queue for verification or intentionally does not consider it as sanctions against a developer whose behavior it considered wrong,” notes Makoto Shoji, founder of PrimeTheory Inc. and the iOS Reject Rescue service to help developers in getting an apruva in the store.
• companies are unhappy with how Apple interprets and changes its own rules without notifying them in advance.
• Some developers have encountered a situation where they received permission to add characters in swimsuits, and at the next check, Apple interpreted these outfits as sexualized and unacceptable;also, some developers note technical problems on the Apple side.
• Last November, the company’s servers fell for more than a day, but the studios were not notified of this and tried in vain to identify the cause of the failure. Such situations, coupled with poorly established communication, can sometimes lead to financial losses.Why are local developers not afraid of a large commission?

Many gaming companies in Japan are well aware of the 30% commission and have been operating under similar conditions for the past few decades.

For example, Nintendo has been conducting such a policy on its devices since the 80s.

Most mobile app developers are willing to pay such a percentage. In return, they want a better service from Apple, which at the moment, in their opinion, leaves much to be desired.

“Checking applications from Apple is often non-objective, subjective and irrational. The company often responds to developers abruptly and according to templates, but even taking this into account, you should behave politely, like a servant who asks the owner about his wishes,” says Shojo.

In response to the claims, the company stated that 1,400 support specialists work in Japan, and it is doing everything possible to improve the quality of services.

State interventionThe Japanese Fair Trade Commission, which regulates competition and monitors compliance with the antimonopoly law, has also entered the case.

The scandal and the trial with Epic Games forced her to pay attention to the situation with Apple.

At the moment, the commission has not yet launched a full-fledged investigation, but now it intends to closely monitor Apple’s actions and the policy applied to it. 

Also on the topic:

• Apple has postponed the introduction of a new IDFA policyApp Annie spoke about the performance of the mobile games market in the 2nd quarter of 2020
• Apple has deleted the developer account of Epic Games.
• So far Unreal Engine has not been affected by thisIs there any news?