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The Epic vs. Apple court has a great definition of video gamesMuch better than Tim Sweeney’s, anyway
Much better than Tim Sweeney’s, anyway
Image credit:Rumble Studios
Image credit:Rumble Studios
Epic’s court case against Applereached a conclusion yesterday, at least temporarily, but the judge’s ruling didn’t only address the big issues of app stores and payment systems. Judge Yvonne Gonzalez also offered an answer to a question raised during the trial:what is a game?Most surprisingly, Gonzalez’s definition is pretty great.
The definition of what consitutes a game was important to Epic’s case against Apple, because whether something is a game or not determines how it’s treated in Apple’s rules regarding in-app purchases. The developers of Roblox argue that the games you play within their ecosystem are not actually games, but “experiences.”
Top 10 New PC Games For September 2021Watch on YouTube
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“I think game involves some sort of win or loss or a score progression, on wheter it is an individual or social group of competitors,” said Sweeney. “With a game you’re trying to build up to some outcome that you achieve, as opposed to an open-ended experience like building aFortnite Creativeisland or writing a Microsoft Word document. There is no score keeping mechanic and you are never done or you never win.”
This seemed like a severely narrow definition of what a video game is, limiting it only to scored or linear experiences. Thankfully, the court agreed.
On page 68 of thefull ruling, the court offers its own definition of a videogame:
The document goes on to note that, “Beyond this minimum, the video gaming market appears highly electic and diverse. Indeed, neither Mr. Sweeney’s nor Mr. Kosmynka’s descriptions, which focus on linear narratives and competitive modes, captures the diversity of gaming that appears to exist in the gaming industry today.”
I think that’s a pretty fair, and kind, definition of the breadth of video games. There are even footnotes attached which offer further clarification. For example, on the issue of games being “generally graphically rendered or animated,” the judgement notes that “the Court understands that some games, such as older Mortal Kombat games, have utilized motion capture technology in rendering graphics and animations in the game.” Presumably no one has shown Judge Yvonne GonzalezHer Story.
Epic’s court case against Appleended with a near total victory for Apple, though the single ruling in Epic’s favour could have huge consequences.
