In mid-February, the editor of Fortnite Apple announced that Apple has handed over the developer account to its Swedish subsidiary. This should allow it to launch again Battle Royale Under DMA, on iPhone in Europe without going through the App Store. Epic lost this account in 2020 after trying to impose an alternative payment system in the game, drawing the ire of Apple (and legal action).
Read Apple gives back developer account for Fortnite in Europe to Epic
But alas! Epic announced this Wednesday, March 6, that Apple has once again deleted developer accounts, making it impossible to design the Epic Games Store for iOS. ” By terminating Epic’s developer account, Apple eliminates one of the biggest potential competitors to the Apple App Store. », explains the studio. ” (Apple) undermines our ability to be a viable competitor and shows other developers what happens when you try to compete with Apple or criticize their unfair practices. “
Criticizing Apple’s practices is really the heart of the problem. Epic provides evidence that it was criticism of the manufacturer’s practices that prematurely terminated developer accounts, an essential key to accessing Apple’s development tools.
On February 23, Phil Schiller (the big boss of the App Store) sent an email to Epic Games CEO Tim Sweeney, asking him to confirm in writing that he was committed to complying with the terms of the agreement to the letter.’ Apple. The email discusses the messages and criticism Sweeney has made against the App Store in recent years, particularly during litigation between the two companies.
Despite Tim Sweeney’s written commitment, Apple’s lawyers warned on March 2 that Epic’s developer account had been suspended. He specifically cites a tweet from a studio boss (embedded below), in which he decries the App Store monopoly, the monopoly on payments for digital goods, the “Apple Tax” and various obstacles and frictions in the Apple firm. imposes on developers.
Apple leadership faces some big decisions in the coming weeks as it considers the contradictions between their stated principles and the intended and actual outcomes of their current policies: the App Store monopoly, the digital goods payments monopoly, taxes,… pic.twitter.com/mUxV5ypwcd
— Tim Sweeney (@TimSweeneyEpic) February 26, 2024
This withdrawal of Epic Developer account is called ” Retaliate for Apple’s condemnation of its unfair and illegal practices ” However, the studio promised to honor all terms of Apple’s developer contract, a commitment Tim Sweeney also made to Phil Schiller.
Another reason given by Apple: The Epic Games Store poses a “threat” to the iOS ecosystem. ” Given the integrity of the Apple iOS platform, as well as its intellectual property (…) Given Epic’s past and current behavior, Apple cannot allow Epic Games Sweden AB to become part of its ecosystem. », we can read in the lawyers’ letter.
This airing of dirty linen in public on the very day of the implementation of the provisions of the European regulation on digital markets looks very bad. Only Epic has given its version of the story so far, and Apple could respond if it wants to. But the image projected by the Apple firm with the press release at the moment with a passive-aggressive tone, does not argue in its favor.
Apple “makes a mockery of DMA,” read according to its competitors.
