The European Game Developers Federation said it was disappointed with the way Apple implemented DMA.
The other day, the European Game Developers Federation (EGDF) criticized Apple, and also called for an investigation into how the Apple company decided to comply with the Digital Markets Act (DMA).
Recall that this law obliges Apple to allow users to install third-party app stores on iOS devices, and developers to use third-party payment systems.
Apple was forced to comply with the law. However, she implemented the required functionality with a number of nuances. One of them is the introduction of the so—called Key technology Fee (CTF). According to it, developers who wish to publish games on third-party platforms and/or make payments through third-party services will have to pay €0.50 for each download over a million installations per year.
This approach to the implementation of DMA has caused irritation among representatives of the EGDF. In a public comment, the Federation stated that the measures taken by Apple:
- they make it difficult to compete;
- prevents the distribution of games on third-party platforms;
- prevents the use of third-party payment methods in games.
"Apple's proposed fees are disproportionate and unjustified," the commentary notes.
"The new business conditions are designed in such a way that the transition to using alternative third—party payment systems and app stores is fraught with risk for game developers," it is noted there.
In addition, EGDF is dissatisfied with the fact that Apple requires third—party stores running on iOS to have a letter of credit (in fact, a receipt from a bank guaranteeing payment if certain conditions are met) in the amount of at least one million euros.
Such a threshold was considered too high, especially for small European game publishers. "This creates an artificial barrier to access to the market of new app stores from third—party publishers," EGDF representatives believe.
The Federation did not ignore Apple's refusal to implement functionality that allows game developers to use both the Apple company's payment system and third-party solutions at once.
Officials from the European game dev felt that such an approach forces developers to stop at one thing, "put their eggs in one basket", instead of using the most convenient or appropriate tool, depending on the situation.
Based on all this, the EGDF concluded that the new collection practice introduced by Apple (which, by the way, has not yet entered into force) requires investigation. The Federation suspects that CTF violates several points of the DMA at once.
