Monday, March 11, 2024
The move came after Epic accused Apple of breaking new EU rules that require Apple and other phone makers to allow third-party stores on their devices.
In a related development, antitrust regulators in Brussels fined Apple 1.84 billion euros ($2 billion) for thwarting competition from rival music streaming services through restrictions on its app store—a situation similar to what happened with Fortnite.
Apple announced changes in January 2024, which it said ushered in more than 600 APIs, expanded app analytics, adding functionality for alternative browser engines along with options for processing app payments and distributing iOS app. "Across every change, Apple is introducing new safeguards that reduce – but don't eliminate – new risks" to users, Apple said in a statement at the time.
However, developers of Apple apps will still need to submit apps to the company, which says is necessary to review for cybersecurity risks and obvious fraud. Plus, the company said it plans to assess a "core technology fee" on all app developers, even if they don't use any Apple payment services.
The Epic-Apple legal tangle goes back at least four years, when Epic took issue with Apple commissions on transactions involving the online game Fortnite—30 percent for in-app payments on the iPhone.
Following its recent ejection from Apple, Epic created a developer account in Sweden, hoping this would help get Fortnite and other Epic games back on iPhones in Europe, with Epic running its own game store on the devices, in accordance with EU law.
The European Commission, the executive body of the EU, on March 7, 2024, put in place rules intended to make it easier for consumers to move between competing mobile services.
The move was in response to a new EU law, the Digital Markets Act, which requires companies with more than 45 million monthly active users and a 75-billion euro ($82 billion) market cap to, among other things, make their apps compatible with those of rivals so that users can decide which apps get pre-installed on their mobile devices.
Epic's move last week was an attempt to take advantage of the new European rules. But Apple blocked the move, claiming Epic's past breaches of contract and the long-running legal dispute between the two companies were just causes for removal. Under pressure from the EU, however, Apple appears to have walked back that position.
"This sends a strong signal to developers that the European Commission will act swiftly to enforce the Digital Markets Act (DMA) and hold gatekeepers accountable," Epic Games said in a statement. 
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