You can write a game and all at once target Xbox, Playstation, Switch, PC, MacOS, and Linux. You can do physical releases. You can upload your game anywhere, even provide it for distribution on your own website. Everyone has choice in the equation.
App stores are vampiric parasites and need to be dismantled. Either that, or these companies need their phone monopolies taken away.
And all those platforms have revenue sharing requirements.
You can’t distribute a Switch, PS4, or Xbox One game without giving the respective companies a cut of your sale.
Windows and Mac are the only exceptions, but you won’t get far without publishing to a digital store unless you can afford to drum up a whole lot
of name recognition all on your own (also costs money unless you hit the lottery like Mojang did).
That is mitigated by the fact that there are so many options. Gaming is an open space with tons of competition. All of the audience isn't glued to a single platform or two controlled by a single entity.
Gaming companies fight to win over gamers and developers. Not so for Apple and Google with their walled fiefdoms.
So instead of two competitors you have four (three consoles and the PC). Three of which have the same “walled garden” that Apple has but with a much larger barrier to entry and much stricter controls?
If you release a game on disc. The retailer + distributer get at least a 50% cut.
App stores are vampiric parasites and need to be dismantled. Either that, or these companies need their phone monopolies taken away.