Apple is standardizing the acceptability of NFT-based apps on the Apple App Store. However, the company is charging its regular 30% processing charge on all transactions, which many NFT enterprises believe is excessive and simply not practical for their continued existence in the shop.
Let’s look at why this is occurring and what we might expect in the future.
The App Store’s move
According to a story initially published by Aidan Ryan at The Information, Apple has notified entrepreneurs that while NFTs are authorized to be sold on apps listed in Apple’s App Store, all NFT sales must be made through in-app transactions, which are subject to Apple’s high costs. As Ryan correctly points out, this has caused nascent projects and platforms to limit functionality in-app in order to avoid the 30% fees – despite the fact that Apple has no role in completing those transactions other than allowing a respective app’s presence in the App Store.
FOSS Patents, a tech patent blogger, has noted that actual costs to developers frequently exceed the 30% commission that is frequently cited when referring to the App Store; FOSS has argued that certain geographic areas are subject to fees that can be as high as 35%, and are forced to pay for search ads. “Are there whole areas of the new economy that aren’t going via the App Store?” asked The Information creator Jessica Lessin, echoing a concern expressed many FOSS as Apple’s commission fees come under fire.
Fees Fuel Controversy
Epic Games CEO Tim Sweeney addressed the issue in a Friday tweet, calling App Store mechanisms as a “grotesquely pricey in-app payment business.”
Sweeney has had plenty of disagreements over App Store commissions, since Epic’s flagship title ‘Fortnite’ was pulled from the App Store when Epic attempted to avoid the aforementioned cost structure. He has long contended that Apple’s commission rates are unfriendly to developers and provide no value to the industry’s development.
Sweeney originally held a neutral stance on NFTs, but Epic has now demonstrated a developer-first mindset (whether that includes NFTs or not). Others have suggested that Apple’s stance merely benefits potential crypto-native competitors, such as the rumored ‘Solana mobile‘ project in the works.
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