The legal battle between Epic Games and Apple is far from over after the Fortnite developer account was terminated and thus, unable to keep working on bringing back the battle royale and the Epic Games Store to iOS.
The news was announced by Epic Games via a blog post. In it, they explain that Apple had shut down their recently approved Epic Games Sweden AB developer account, which they intended to use to bring back Fortnite and create an Epic Games Store app in Europe.
Previously, Epic revealed that the European Union determined that alternate storefronts should be allowed to co-exist next to the iPhone's App Store, putting an end to a long legal battle between Epic and Apple.
On March 6, Epic stated that, on terminating their developer account, Apple had broken article 64 of the Digital Markets Act (DMA) showing that they have "no intention of allowing true competition on iOS devices."
The DMA designated Apple's App Store as a "gatekeeper," and as such had until March 2024 to comply with the Act, allowing Epic to start developing a storefront of their own on iOS devices.
"In terminating Epic’s developer account, Apple is taking out one of the largest potential competitors to the Apple App Store. They are undermining our ability to be a viable competitor and they are showing other developers what happens when you try to compete with Apple or are critical of their unfair practices."
The reason for the termination was pettier than you might think. Apple cited Epic Games CEO Tim Sweeney's Twitter thread criticising the "unfair and illegal practices" made by Apple and their proposed DMC compliance plan.
According to Epic, Apple also claims that the developers are a threat to its ecosystem, refuting this assertion by listing a few projects that helped iOS and the App Store during its initial years, including the games like the iconic Infinite Blade and Epic Citadel.
Epic Games also name-dropped apps that are currently live on the App Store and are created by subsidiaries of the company, including Rocket League Sideswipe, Postparty, RealityScan, Live Link Face, Live Link vCAM, Unreal Stage, Unreal Remote 2, Unreal Remote, and Action RPG Game Sample.
Fortnite players on mobile will have to wait longer for the battle royale to return to iOS as it seems we're due for round 2 of the Epic Games and Apple lawsuit.
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