The DeanBeat: What would Orwell think of big tech vs gaming?

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I happened to start writing this column while I was in the city of Barcelona, which has a square dedicated to George Orwell, author of both Homage to Catalonia and 1984. The latter book is a reminder of the totalitarian society that could emerge if we allow one person too much power. This isn’t true for just politicians and governments. It’s also true for technology and gaming. I read Orwell’s books decades ago, and I see the warnings he offered us as relevant as ever.

Apple evoked this imagery in its famous 1984 TV commercial, announcing the Macintosh computer as a counterforce to the blandness of IBM. Openness and freedom should rule over closed ecosystems or walled gardens and corporate greed.

Epic Games, maker of Fortnite, brought the irony of this imagery back as it accused Apple of antitrust violations in a lawsuit filed in federal court in August 2020. The court ruled in Apple’s favor on most counts in September 2021, but the case is still winding its way through the courts, and Epic still has a similar pending lawsuit against Google. This week, Epic filed another reply to Apple in its appeal of the court’s ruling. Epic wants reversals on the lower court’s rulings on a number of major arguments and Apple held to account.

And so the question remains: Why are we still interested in this case? To me, as I pondered the meaning of Orwellian fears while I was in Barcelona, this legal battle between giant companies is interesting because it is a struggle for control of consumers between a big tech platform owner, Apple, and a major developer on that platform, Epic Games. I chose to use that time while I was in Spain to