The dispute between Epic Games and Apple is deepening, Bloomberg said Thursday (Jan. 14), as Epic decries the removal of its popular Fortnite game from the App Store as unlawful.
According to Epic in a statement to the U.K’s antitrust tribunal, Apple is abusing its dominant position in the market.
“This is an important argument to make on behalf of consumers and developers in the U.K. and around the world who are impacted by Apple and Google’s misuse of market power,” Epic said in the statement, per the Bloomberg report. “Epic is not seeking damages from Apple or Google in the U.K., Australia or the U.S., it is simply seeking fair access and competition that will benefit all consumers.”
The controversy between the two started last year when Epic, which owns the popular game Fortnite, began offering in-app purchases that subverted Apple’s usual digital payments service. Apple claimed Epic had violated its terms of service, and blocked the game from its app, though the company said it would re-admit the app if Epic removed the in-app payment update.
There’s set to be a court battle between the two around the summer of 2021, which could see drastic changes to the way the digital economy runs in the future.
Epic admitted that it had known the new update would go against Apple’s rules but went ahead anyway, due to what it claims are Apple’s anti-competitive practices with the App Store. The company said it wanted to provoke an issue to the courts. Epic charges that Apple’s rules around the App Store are set up to consolidate its power there, which has the effect of limiting competition in the marketplace.
Epic said the way Apple was running things was “monopolistic,” particularly how the in-app payment system was tied to the App Store.
Epic Games noted that it has launched legal proceedings against Apple and Google in the United Kingdom, expanding its fight to advance fair digital platform practices for consumers and developers. The legal proceedings, filed in London’s Competition Appeal Tribunal, allege that the conduct of both Apple and Google in their respective app stores is an abuse of a dominant position and in breach of the U.K.’s competition laws, substantially reducing competition in app distribution and payment processes, Epic stated.
“We believe that this is an important argument to make on behalf of consumers and developers in the U.K. and around the world who are impacted by Apple and Google’s misuse of market power,” Epic said in a statement to PYMNTS. “We look forward to making our case on Jan. 21.”
Epic noted that they are not seeking damages from Apple or Google in the U.K., Australia or the US, but is simply seeking fair access and competition that will benefit all consumers.
Apple, in turn, said the actions Epic had taken were a “developer revolt” and that they could “destabilize” the company’s entire business model.
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