The makers of the online game “Fortnite” have suffered a setback in their plans to return to the iPhone in the EU. Apple blocked the designated developer account. The company emphasized on Wednesday that following earlier rule violations by the developer Epic Games, its right to throw them off the platform had been confirmed in court.
“Fortnite” is one of the world’s most famous video games; several hundred million people play it – especially the so-called Battle Royal mode: In it, up to 100 players fight against each other – until only one is left and has won the round. The dispute between Apple and Epic Games involves a lot of money. According to the market research company Sensor Tower, in-app purchases in app stores are expected to generate $187 billion in sales next year and $207 billion in 2025.
With the DMA (Digital Markets Act) coming into effect, Apple in the EU has had to allow applications from sources other than the in-house App Store to be loaded on the iPhone for the first time since Thursday. Epic wants to use this to bring back “Fortnite”, which has been banned from the App Store since August 2020 after violating the rules, at least in the European Union. Epic made the new controversy on Wednesday publicly in a blog post. Accordingly, on March 2nd, Apple blocked a Swedish developer account from Epic Games that had been set up a few weeks earlier. The lawyers’ letter, also published, states that Epic “demonstrably cannot be trusted.”
The trigger for the long dispute was an attempt by Epic to avoid the 15 or 30 percent levy on the purchase price that Apple withholds from transactions in its App Store. A version of the app with hidden software code was passed on to the company’s app reviewers. Users could also purchase virtual items through Apple.
Apple kicked “Fortnite” from the App Store because of the rule violation. Epic, on the other hand, went to court in the USA, but lost in all instances. Epic described the banning of the Swedish developer account as retaliation for company boss Tim Sweeney’s sharp criticism of Apple’s implementation of the DMA requirements. He had described Apple’s planned rules for other app marketplaces as “garbage” and accused the company of wanting to slow down competition.
Apple calls app installations from other sources a security risk
Sweeney followed up on Wednesday and wrote to the online service Intimidate app developers. In the new conditions, Apple is introducing, among other things, a fee of 50 cents for each additional initial installation after one million downloads of an app in a twelve-month period. The developers can also stay in the old model and only distribute their apps via Apple’s App Store. However, if they switch to the new system, there is no way back to the previous conditions. The group calls app installations from other sources a security risk.
The music streaming market leader Spotify also accuses Apple of wanting to make sales via other marketplaces economically unviable for app developers by implementing the DMA.
The escalating dispute has now brought the European Union (EU) into action. The antitrust authority announced on Wednesday that it had requested information about why the US company was preventing the “Fortnite” maker from setting up its own online marketplace for iPhones and iPads. On this basis, she will decide whether Apple is violating EU law.