Japan to open up Apple and Google app stores to competition (2023)
https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=36368735
Japan enacts law to promote competition in smartphone app stores (2024)
https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=40662176
iOS 26.2 to allow third-party app stores in Japan ahead of regulatory deadline (Nov 2025)
That's not to say Sony and Nintendo shouldn't be opened too but their impact is much smaller (game devs) than Apple (nearly all businesses)
No, the better law is the one that exists.
Yours doesn't.
Apple, Google. Two app stores that are basically necessary for existing in the modern world with a smartphone, which include apps covering Japanese government services.
In the gaming space, you’ve got PlayStation Store, Xbox Store, Nintendo eShop, Steam, Epic Game Store, GOG, a bazillion publisher storefronts, Apple and Google (again), Itch.io, physical media for the big 3 consoles at dozens of brick and mortar retailers, or even installing games directly with no store at all (Minecraft originated from its own online purchase portal).
shlip•2h ago
Curious to see how Apple and Google are going to circumvent this.