Apple to Allow NFTs in App Store – At a Cost of 30% or More
Apple’s App Store will start allowing apps and games based on NFTs. But there is a catch. Apple will be charging its standard transaction fee of 30%, which many NFT businesses and startups believe to be unreasonable and just not feasible.
NFTs in apps by Apple
Aidan Ryan of The Information reveals that Apple has reportedly informed start-ups that NFTs can be sold in apps on Apple’s App Store. However, as required, all NFT purchases must be made through in-app purchases, meaning Apple can claim a good chunk of the pie.
Apple has told startups it must sell NFTs through in-app purchases, forcing many startups to limit functionality in apps to dodge fees up to 30% of the transaction, even when the startups are only facilitating the trades. My latest for @theinformation https://t.co/2pKamhLmCp
— Aidan Ryan (@aidanfitzryan) September 23, 2022
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Apple takes 30% commission
The article in The Information explains that projects and platforms are bypassing the in-app functionality in an effort to evade those 30% fees. They don’t think it is right to pay Apple for their own hard work. Apple also plays no role in facilitating those transactions outside of allowing the app in the App Store.
Jessica Lessin, founder of The Information, suggests that Apple has too much of a monopoly: “Are there segments of the new economy that don’t go through the App Store?”
More than 30%
According to FOSS Patents, the actual cost to developers can often exceed the 30% commission often quoted when referring to the App Store. Certain countries are subject to fees of up to about 35%, and that they are forced by Apple to pay for advertisements.
Fortnite developer does not agree with Apple
Tim Sweeney, CEO of Epic Games who has long called Apple unfriendly and even stifling to developers, tweeted a similar message over the weekend agreeing with Aidan Ryan’s article, calling Apple’s App Store a “grotesquely overpriced in-app payment service”.
Now Apple is killing all NFT app businesses it can’t tax, crushing another nascent technology that could rival its grotesquely overpriced in-app payment service. Apple must be stopped. https://t.co/4KChp6jtFZ
— Tim Sweeney (@TimSweeneyEpic) September 23, 2022
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Epic Games went through many conflicts over App Store commissions with the hit game Fortnite pulled from the App Store after trying to evade the fee structure. While previously having been indifferent to NFTs, Sweeney and Epic are now outspoken in their stance in favor of developers, if they use NFTs or not does not matter. In July, responding to the news that a Minecraft developer would forbid NFTs, Sweeney said that his company will “definitely not be banning NFTs.”
“Developers should be free to decide how to build their games, and you are free to decide whether to play them. I believe stores and operating system makers shouldn’t interfere by forcing their views onto others. We definitely won’t,” the Epic Games CEO clarified.
What are NFTs?
NFT stands for non-fungible tokens or unique cryptocurrencies that cannot be exchanged with other cryptocurrencies. Each NFT has different properties and represents different things (images/music/video games) and therefore has unique value.
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Source: igaming
