Epic Games has won its battle to be an iOS developer (though who knows how many more twists and turns there may be along the way), and it will now be hoping that its new Unreal Engine fee doesn’t lead to battles with its own developer clients …
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After a whirlwind of events, Epic Games says Apple has reinstated their App Store developer account. The move clears the way for Epic to bring its Epic Games Store to the EU, avoiding the App Store structure altogether. The turnaround is somewhat unexpected as Apple seemed to stand by its decision to revoke Epic’s developer account on Wednesday.
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Apple appeared to threaten Epic Games, when the company cancelled its developer account for the second time, and cited the developer’s public criticisms of the iPhone maker as one of the reasons.
The European Commissioner, who heads up the executive branch of the European Union, has now suggested that this breaks the law …
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Apple’s Epic ban – which saw the iPhone maker again terminate a developer account used by the games company – is being questioned by EU antitrust regulators.
More details also emerged of follow-ups to Phil Schiller’s demand for written assurances of good faith by both Epic CEO Tim Sweeney and Apple’s lawyers …
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In the latest installment of Things No One Should Lose Sleep Over, Epic Games says Apple has taken down its newly reinstated developer account in the EU. In a blog post, Epic partially blames a tweet as Apple’s reason for doing so. Epic says this hinders its plans to launch a competing app marketplace in the EU.
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Despite Tim Sweeney’s vocal opposition to Apple’s new third-party app marketplace guidelines in the European Union, Epic Games is planning to launch its own store on iPhone later this year. The company teased its plans last month, and has shared more details in a blog post today.
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A Disney/Epic Games partnership announced this week may see the Fortnite developer return to the App Store despite the fractious relationship between Apple and Epic.
The collaboration will see new games featuring characters and stories across a range of Disney worlds, including Walt Disney, Star Wars, Pixar, and Marvel …
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While some may have thought the Epic Games versus Apple battle ended when the US Supreme Court decided the existing App Store ruling would stand, and it would not hear appeals from either side, it quickly became clear that this isn’t the case.
Epic Games has now followed through with its threat to contest Apple’s “bad-faith compliance plan” – which would see the company charge 27% commission on app sales made outside of its own App Store …
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Daring Fireball’s John Gruber has said that Apple’s decision to charge 27% commission on app sales made outside the App Store “reeks of greed and avarice.”
He also backs the view I expressed yesterday that the iPhone maker is putting itself in the firing line of regulators and legislators, while a majority of 9to5Mac commenters appear to disagree …
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The Supreme Court’s decision not to hear appeals by either Apple or Epic Games means that the antitrust case is officially decided – and the iPhone maker is now demanding that the games company pay $73M of its $81M legal expenses.
The iPhone maker says that as there were ten issues at stake, and Apple won on nine of them, Epic should pay 90% of its legal bill …
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The US Supreme Court yesterday decided that the original ruling in the Epic Games case should stand – and Apple’s response to the antitrust ruling has been uncompromising, to put it politely.
The company’s announcement that it will allow external payments but still claim a 27% commission on sales made outside the App Store is effectively Apple giving the middle finger not just to Epic Games – which may be understandable – but also to the court which made the original ruling, and to antitrust regulators …
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After a long legal dispute, the US Supreme Court ruled today that Apple will have to relax some of its App Store policies. More specifically, the company now has to let developers offer alternative payment methods. Still, Epic Games CEO Tim Sweeney isn’t happy with the final terms and says the company will contest Apple’s “bad-faith compliance plan.”
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As our friends at 9to5Google reported last night, Epic Games scored a major victory in its legal battle with Google. The jury in the case determined that Google has an “illegal monopoly” with the Play Store and Google Play billing, a far better outcome than what Epic Games achieved in its fight against Apple and the App Store.
In a new interview with CNBC, Epic Games CEO Tim Sweeney attributed the different outcomes to the fact that “Apple didn’t write anything down.”
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Yesterday saw an Epic Games victory in its court case against Google, a jury finding that the Play Store was indeed operated in an anti-competitive fashion.
This is despite the fact that Epic mostly lost a near-identical case against Apple back in 2021. The differing conclusions in the two cases puts Apple back under pressure …
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Epic is taking its legal fight with Apple to the Supreme Court, and the company behind the game Fortnite isn’t happily standing by for results.
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After a prolonged court battle between Epic Games and Apple following Fortnite’s removal from the App Store, Judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers ruled that Apple could no longer prohibit iOS developers from selling content in their apps using third-party payment platforms. The company tried to appeal the ruling with the judge but was denied. Now Apple is asking the U.S. Supreme Court to reconsider the decision.
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Epic Games is known for its popular game Fortnite, but the company also has another important product – the Unreal Engine, which is a 3D creation tool used not only to produce games but also apps and even virtual sets for Hollywood movies and shows. The company on Thursday announced Unreal Engine 5.2, which comes with native support for Apple Silicon Macs for the first time.
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Apple once again has proven victorious in its ongoing legal battle with Epic Games. As reported by Bloomberg, the US Ninth Circuit of Appeals has upheld the decision first handed down in November of 2021, which found that Apple is not a “monopolist under either federal or state antitrust laws.”
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Back in December, the US Federal Trade Commission (FTC) hit Fortnite maker Epic Games with the “largest penalty ever” for violations against children over privacy issues and tricking them into purchases. Now $245 million of the total $520 million penalty has been finalized for those who were victims of “dark patterns” that led to unwanted and unknown in-game charges. We’ll also cover how to get a refund if you believe you or your family was impacted by Epic’s practices.
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It’s been more than two years since the popular game Fortnite was removed from the App Store after Epic Games updated it with a payment system that bypassed Apple’s in-app purchases. However, as Apple is now rumored to allow alternative app stores on the iPhone and iPad, Epic Games CEO Tim Sweeney has teased that Fortnite will return to iOS soon.
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Epic Games CEO Tim Sweeney is doubling down on his battle against Apple and the App Store. In a new interview with The Verge, Sweeney threatened to take the long-running lawsuit between Epic and Apple to the Supreme Court, while saying that “every politician should fear the rise of corporate power that Apple is creating.”
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Earlier this year, Epic Games announced a new app called RealityScan that lets users scan objects and turn them into high-fidelity 3D models using the iPhone and iPad camera. After months of beta testing, RealityScan is now finally available for everyone on the iOS App Store.
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Last year’s Epic Games versus Apple ruling left both sides unhappy with the result, each filing its own appeal. An appeals hearing took place on Monday, and the intention and effect of the Apple ecosystem – aka the “Apple walled garden” – was the core issue debated.
Apple made the case that the ecosystem is designed to keep iPhone users safe from malware and scams, while Epic argued that the iPhone maker is simply afraid of competition …
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DOJ antitrust lawyers have asked to make 10 minutes of oral argument during the upcoming Apple versus Epic Games appeal. The Department of Justice wants to follow up its previous written brief, which argues that the court erred in finding mostly in Apple’s favor.
Technically, the DOJ isn’t appearing for either side, but the argument it makes supports Epic’s contention that the App Store is in breach of antitrust laws …
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