During the second week of the Apple vs. Epic Games trial, the popular game creation Roblox was thrust into the centre of the courtroom debate over whether it was a game or a “experience.” Following hours of deliberation and Apple’s definition of it as a “experience,” Roblox coincidentally replaced the word “game” across its website.
What appeared to be a joke was actually a serious question in the Apple vs. Epic Games trial. Apple marketing head Trystan Kosmynka said in a 2017 email that he was “surprised” that “Roboblox” had been approved for the App Store. Epic Games decided to re-file the case in court in order to cast doubt on Apple’s App Store review process.
“When you consider of such a game or an app, they are incredibly fluid; they have a starting, an end, and there are hurdles in place. I look at the Roblox experiences that are similar to the Minecraft experiences. This is a map. These are different worlds. And they have limits in terms of what they are capable of,” Kosmynka testified.
Roblox has become a phenomenon among children and teenagers. According to Polygon, “Roblox is an online platform and storefront where users go to play games.” Roblox is not a game; rather, it is a platform where people can play games created by other developers. In this regard, it is more akin to the PC platform Steam than to any online children’s game. What distinguishes Roblox from other platforms in the games industry, including storefronts such as Steam, is that all of its games are created by its users.”
After being placed in the middle of the trial, Roblox developers changed the word “game” on their website to “experience,” possibly in response to the court case. On its iOS and Android apps, for example, the “Games” tab has been renamed “Discover.”
A Spokesperson About The Roblox Told The Verge:
“The term ‘experiences’ matches with how we’ve progressed our terminology to represent our understanding of the multiverse. Roblox is an online forum where people do things together in virtual worlds, and we began referring to these worlds as life experience over the years because they properly serve the wide range of 3D immersive places – from obbys to virtual concerts – that people can enjoy together with their friends.”
As the trial continues until May 24, we will undoubtedly hear more discussions about what V-bucks and games are, but what we hope to learn is the judge’s response to whether Apple’s App Store is a monopoly or if Epic was correct and will eventually bring Fornite back to the Apple ecosystem.
