Epic Games, the owner of Fortnite, filed a lawsuit against Apple on grounds that the App Store violates antitrust laws by mandating developers to use its payment options alone.
Epic Games had introduced a direct payment approach that bypassed the in-app feature the iOS store offers, much to the displeasure of Apple and as a result was banned from the platform. Epic Games retaliated with a lawsuit!
Apple has been known to collect as high as 30 per cent in the commission of any sale whether direct or in-direct app payments from any purchase on apps. Epic Games will not be the first to sue the giant as Shopify had early last year filed a complaint with the European Union stating that the approach stifled innovation. Read more about it here
Other Technology Companies such as Deezer and BEUC have also shared similar sentiments. Epic and Apple’s fracas begun after the former wrote to Apple to allow Epic launch an app that allows a bypass of the 30 percent cut. Apple refused to oblige the request citing it violates its contracts and standards.
The App Store is not simply a marketplace — it is part of a larger bundle of tools, technologies and services that Apple makes available to developers, we cannot be confident that Epic or any developer would uphold the same rigorous standards of privacy, security, and content as Apple. Indeed, since Apple treats all developers according to the same terms, Epic is essentially asking Apple to outsource the safety and security of Apple’s users to hundreds of thousands of iOS developers
Douglas Vetter, Apple Associate General Counsel
Epic went ahead by taking laws into his hands and sent a follow up email written in part below
We choose to follow this path in the firm belief that history and law are on our side. We hope that Apple will reflect on its platform restrictions and begin to make historic changes that bring to the world’s billion iOS consumers the rights and freedoms enjoyed on the world’s leading open computing platforms.”
Tim Sweeney, EPIC CEO
Fortnite has for quite similar reasons been yanked off the Google Playstore. Google released a statement to that effect
The open Android ecosystem lets developers distribute apps through multiple app stores. For game developers who choose to use the Play Store, we have consistent policies that are fair to developers and keep the store safe for users. While Fortnite remains available on Android, we can no longer make it available on Play because it violates our policies. However, we welcome the opportunity to continue our discussions with Epic and bring Fortnite back to Google Play.
The conversation has now taken an interesting turn as Microsoft. Yes, THE Microsoft has filed a legal brief supporting Epic Games to continue to develop for both Mac and IOS platforms while the case continues in court. According to Microsoft, Epic Games Unreal Engine is critical technology for game creators including Microsoft’s and discontinuity for iOS or Mac will harm other game creators and gamers.
Fortnite risks being yanked off the store and future ability to develop for Apple revoked if it doesn’t relent by the end of August, that is if a court order does not stop the injunction.