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Apple has blocked Fortnite maker Epic Games from launching its own third-party app store for iPhone and iPad customers in Europe. This is a surprising escalation of a years-long legal battle between the two tech giants.
The Cupertino, California-based company has terminated the developer account of Epic Games’ Swedish affiliate, effectively canceling the video game maker’s plans to offer Fortnite and its Epic Games Store directly to Apple customers. Abolished. Apple approved developer accounts just a few weeks ago.
The broadside remarks come on the eve of a key deadline to comply with the European Union’s Digital Markets Act, a sweeping law aimed at reining in Apple and other so-called “gatekeeper” technology companies. I was disappointed. Apple had previously announced that it would allow third-party app stores on its devices to comply with the new rules.
Epic Games described Apple’s move as a “serious violation of DMA” and “an indication that Apple has no intention of allowing true competition on its iOS devices.”
“By terminating Epic’s developer account, Apple is eliminating one of the Apple App Store’s biggest potential competitors,” Epic Games said in a statement. “They are undermining our ability to be a strong competitor and showing other developers what happens when they try to compete with Apple or criticize their unfair practices.”
Apple said in a statement that it believes it has the right to cancel its developer agreement with Epic. This is because past court decisions have held that terminating such contracts for breach of contract is at the “sole discretion.”
“Given Epic’s past and current actions, Apple has chosen to exercise its rights,” Apple said.
As part of its compliance plan announced in January, Apple announced it would allow developers to opt out of the App Store payment system. But Apple will retain the right to review its apps before selling them to iPhone customers and will charge a “core technology fee,” which Apple’s critics say violates the spirit of the new European law. Point out.
Epic Games CEO Tim Sweeney publicly trashed Apple’s plan as an example of “malicious compliance,” referring to the company’s proposed rules: Expressing “hot garbage” and “horror show” in a scathing tweet.
In another eyebrow-raising development, Epic Games said Apple informed it that the move was in part due to Mr. Sweeney’s public criticism of the company’s business practices at X. To support its claims, Epic took the unusual step of publishing a letter it received from the Apple App Store. Principal Phil Schiller.
“Your various criticisms of our DMA compliance plan, combined with Epic’s past practice of intentionally violating contractual terms to which it disagrees, demonstrate that Epic Sweden has no intention of playing by the rules,” Schiller wrote in the letter. It strongly suggests that.”
Epic has been one of the most vocal critics of Apple’s handling of the App Store, which has historically charged large companies up to 30% fees on in-app purchases.
In 2020, Apple blocked Fortnite from the App Store after Epic Games enabled a feature that allowed customers to pay directly. A lawsuit filed by Epic Games resulted in a largely divided verdict in Apple’s favor in 2021.
Appeals from both companies sent the case to the U.S. Supreme Court, but the justices declined to hear the case earlier this year.
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