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my favorite part of this hearing so far is Tim Sweeney being asked (in an extremely normal and important court proceeding) if he knows what certain gaming objects/concepts are. "Do you know what a 'console' is?"
"I'm gonna show you some devices and ask you if you recognize them. Do you recognize this?" "Yes this is the PlayStation 5."
lol "your honor can I put this device here?" "can I take this one home?"
judge admitting a PS5 and an XSX into evidence and telling a story about a trademark case where she admitted 30 bottles of wine into evidence and no one came to retrieve them, so the court people drank em all
shout out to this judge actually, who keeps reminding everyone that they've got folks trying to listen in and they need to be mindful of the microphones
haha someone at Epic apparently pitched to Google (prior to Fortnite being on Google Play) that if they let them put Fortnite on Google Play for free, they'd put Fortnite on Stadia too
obviously nothing came of this
cross-examiner currently having Sweeney walk him through the process to enable a player to spend V-Bucks to "ride on sharks"
"and what does it cost Epic to generate a 'V-buck'?"
this poor court reporter
shout out to Eurogamer
is he trying to argue that Sweeney is a hypocrite for not putting Fortnite on Stadia
broadly I want Epic to win this because I think the impacts will overall be positive, but I am quietly enjoying a CEO getting grilled about a very PR-y statement he made once and legally having to explain himself
loooooool lawyer grilling Sweeney on rushing the recent store partnerships (itch, Spotify, etc) just to show off the variety of the storefront at the trial
who complained about Sweeney's audio to the court yesterday and got the judge to ask him to move back? can they do it again?
lol they've accidentally included classified info in another doc being submitted as evidence, this is extremely fun
Judge: I've received ten motions from third parties asking me to seal information. I have not received a request for this document.
Apparently the classified info has to do with some unannounced deal with Paradox?! haha
the games industry is so stupid
this judge is so fucking done it's only day 2 hahahaha
Lawyer: And August 13 is when the fireworks started
Sweeney: Figuratively
Lawyer: Figuratively. And that same day is when the switch flipped for Fortnite payments figuratively
Sweeney: Literally
Sweeney: Figuratively
Lawyer: Figuratively. And that same day is when the switch flipped for Fortnite payments figuratively
Sweeney: Literally
lawyer now trying to get a SINGLE WORD redacted in another doc entering evidence
Sweeney: *assembling a Switch and chuckling to himsef* you can see I'm not a Switch player
Judge: Well now the whole world knows
Judge: Well now the whole world knows
this is a real quote from the courtroom; it reads like a damn dril tweet
lawyer: are you aware one way or the other as to whether Google Stadia has been shut down?
to be clear since this thread is getting some attention, a lot of these questions sound super basic and stupid but are really important for establishing baseline information in the case. the Stadia question came off a bit weird but the rest is pretty normal.
The judge is currently struggling to get Sweeney to, I guess, define the parameters of what Fortnite is. She just asked him, "How would you define a 'game'?"
Sweeney's done now, they're examining a CEO of a yoga app. Probably fewer juicy bits for now until Nvidia and Xbox get in here later.
lol amazing "who the fuck is this guy" energy from Tim Cook at Tim Sweeney here
since you're here, I wrote a thing about how stupidly secret the games industry is and how the courts weren't prepared for apparently ten or so third-parties descending on them to redact their secrets from evidence: https://www.ign.com/articles/epic-vs-apple-shows-the-courts-were-not-prepared-for-the-games-industrys-obsessive-secrecy
publish the sealed docs you cowards!!!!!!!
Good morning. The audio is somehow even worse today and it's very hard to understand what's going on, but it sounds like they're fighting over sealed documents again.
or something about whether the experts chosen for expert testimony are actually experts? I don't know. everyone except the judge is almost entirely unaudible.
ahhh okay this was a helpful explanation: https://twitter.com/joshua_sisco/status/1389963270455324675?s=20
Judge: (interrupting a lawyer) First of all, stop. My rule is that you give me a legal objection. I don't want to hear your arguments.
god she is DONE and it is only the first hour of the third day
god she is DONE and it is only the first hour of the third day
fun example of why it's critical to nail down terms. lawyer asking Lori Wright, VP of Xbox biz dev, what an Xbox is. she points out it has two definitions -- the console hardware, but also the overall Xbox ecosystem of games that goes across consoles.
Epic's lawyer building a narrative distinguishing what the Xbox can do as very, very different from an iPhone. Asks Lori Wright for an example of a game that could not possibly run on mobile; she offers Halo.
"So roughly, Halo is 50x too large to run on iOS?"
"Yes."
"So roughly, Halo is 50x too large to run on iOS?"
"Yes."
show us the redacted operating margins COWARDS!!!!!
we're on recess, then a closed session after that, so nothing new for a bit. while we wait, here's some writes based on some new docs dropped in exhibits today. first from @LawofTD : https://www.ign.com/articles/heres-xboxs-analysis-of-the-last-of-us-part-2
this apple lawyer did not come to play. currently grilling Wright about Xbox's policies as a closed system. "What about the Epic Games Store? Do you allow the EGS on Xbox?" "No." "Do you not think that's unfair?"
"And you don't think it's an antitrust violation?" "I'm not an antitrust expert."
definitions just came back! lawyer clarifying with her whether when she's referring to Xbox she's talking about the console or the ecosystem including PC. this matters a lot for both sides' arguments!
new docs just dropped, looks like the redacted stuff that was in dispute yesterday. fun line from Sweeney emailing Phil Rosenburg re: cross-play: "Many Fortnite players are kids, and their friendships are being torn apart by Sony's segregation of players on competing platforms"
lil melodramatic there sir but ok
"Would you consider Fortnite as a AAA game?" "There are varying definitions of what a AAA game is. I think Fortnite started as an independent game...but yes. There are varying standards but yes it's a AAA game."
"It's often believed it's easy just to move a game over to iOS. It's like asking Spielberg to go reshoot Jurassic Park." haha
ha. they just had to remove the two slideshow exhibits they introduced during Wright's testimony. presumably more stuff that should've been redacted! what a mess.
I'm tweeting the goofier stuff generally, but as far as more serious commentary goes: Epic's argument so far seems to be focused on how unfair Apple's practices are, while Apple is doing a lot of work to prove Epic and everyone it works with is a big ol hypocrite.
Another document coming in that hasn't been properly put together ahead of the trial. Judge: "We have about 150 binders in here and not a single copy."
"are you familiar with the term mobile phone?" "yes" "what is a mobile phone?"
again, important questions for making sure definitions of relevant terms are straight, but hilarious to listen to
again, important questions for making sure definitions of relevant terms are straight, but hilarious to listen to
Epic Engineering Fellow Confirms the Switch Is, in Fact, a Console
Judge: Why do you want to use Apple if it's so terrible?!
the judge has entered the platform wars
Kotaku has entered the record
apparently @Kotaku is a website that promotes gaming news, according to the testimony. good job!
wow, Apple's lawyers still not playing. Calling Epic a dishonest business partner for sneaking in that extra payment method that kicked all this off
“Let’s talk about honesty. You knew you were being dishonest, didn’t you? You knew you were acting without integrity?"
“Let’s talk about honesty. You knew you were being dishonest, didn’t you? You knew you were acting without integrity?"
always good to be reminded that big companies absolutely have agendas and are not your friends!
not your friends!!!!
more motions to seal, this time from Kabam, Apple, Lyft
more from the exhibits, a bunch of Epic folks discussing Minecraft Earth and suggesting it will just end up being full of dicks???
I've got meetings today so not as able to listen as previous days but great thread from Adi below capturing all the nonsense today. Binders, binders everywhere! https://twitter.com/thedextriarchy/status/1390323366494617610?s=20
between meetings been noticing this. docs constantly coming in and out of the public file, often reuploaded with seemingly no changes. this is all at once absolutely bizarre and hilarious and frustrating. https://twitter.com/thedextriarchy/status/1390372693850083338?s=20
Binders continue
Lawyer: If you could just look at [this exhibit], it's gonna be in the small binder, I think, the big binder?
Witness: I have three binders. A small black binder, a large black binder, and a large white binder
Lawyer: If you could just look at [this exhibit], it's gonna be in the small binder, I think, the big binder?
Witness: I have three binders. A small black binder, a large black binder, and a large white binder
a small binder the size of a large binder
lawyer: *reads a chart*
other lawyer: objection, should the witness be testifying here?
judge: *chuckles* if you want to read the chart, that's fine. sustained.
other lawyer: objection, should the witness be testifying here?
judge: *chuckles* if you want to read the chart, that's fine. sustained.
