In another chapter of the battle between Epic Games and Apple, the game company is now appealing to the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) against Apple’s “anti-competitive” practices regarding the App Store. According to Epic, Apple’s conduct and “unrestrained market power” can result in “significant harm” to consumers.
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As Apple’s legal battle with Epic Games continues, a judge in the case has made a pair of decisions unfriendly to Apple. First off, Apple CEO Tim Cook has been ordered to sit for a 7-hour deposition in the case. The judge has also rejected Apple’s attempt to subpoena Samsung as part of the case.
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Epic Games is doubling down on its legal battle with Apple in the UK. As first reported by Bloomberg, Epic has made a new filing in the UK slamming Apple for its decision to remove Fortnite from the App Store, saying that the company is abusing its “dominant position” in the market.
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Playing Fortnite on an iPhone will soon be possible once more, despite Apple removing it from the App Store and later terminating Epic’s developer account.
It’s being made possible by a move that will interest more than just Fortnite players: GPU maker Nvidia has developed a version of its GeForce cloud gaming service that runs in Safari on iOS …
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Epic Games has stepped up its rhetoric against Apple, claiming that the App Store contract is illegal and that Apple’s view of what is reasonable is “crazy and misguided.”
Epic Games CEO Tim Sweeney yesterday tweeted his view on the dispute …
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Feral Interactive has announced that A Total War Saga: Troy will be available for Mac from October 8.
If you sign up for Total War news before then, you’ll get The Amazons downloadable content free of charge when you purchase the game …
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As the legal battle between Epic Games and Apple continues, both companies participated in a preliminary hearing today to discuss the removal of Fortnite from the App Store. Judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers of the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California doesn’t expect the trial to take place prior to July 2021, and she also criticized Epic’s tactics claiming they were “not honest.”
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A number of big developers who object to Apple’s App Store policies have jointly formed the Coalition for App Fairness, a non-profit intended to coordinate efforts to do battle with Apple. Founding members include Epic Games, Spotify and Tile, each of which is involved in high-profile disputes with the iPhone maker.
It will add to the antitrust pressure faced by Apple as the coalition accuses the Cupertino company of ‘taxing consumers’ and ‘crushing innovation’ …
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Tech venture capitalist Fred Wilson – who invested in companies like Twitter, Tumblr, Kickstarter and Etsy – says that he is strongly opposed to the ‘monopolies’ Apple and Google have on the sale of mobile apps …
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Epic Games has announced in a blog post that Fortnite Save The World will be removed from the Mac on September 23. It says the game ‘will no longer be playable on macOS’ as of that date …
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In part of Apple’s defence to the Epic Games lawsuit, the Cupertino company effectively accuses the Fortnite developer of filing the case as a publicity stunt.
Apple also says that Epic had little to lose because iOS is not a big revenue-generator for the company …
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In the latest development of the Epic vs Apple battle, the former is giving a heads up to customers who have used the Sign in with Apple feature to change their login credentials for Epic accounts. That’s because Apple will stop allowing the login option for Epic games accounts on September 11. Follow along for what to do if you have been using Sign in with Apple.
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As the battle between Epic Games and Apple continues on, the latter has officially filed a countersuit against the Fortnite developer asking for damages over the breach of its developer contract. In the new court filing, Apple says Epic isn’t the “modern corporate Robin Hood” that it claims to be.
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Just over a week after Apple terminated the App Store account used by Fortnite, Epic Games is asking a court to stop Apple’s “retaliation.” As reported by Reuters, Epic Games has filed for a preliminary injunction seeking to have Fortnite put back on the App Store.
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As previously warned by Apple, Epic’s App Store account has now been terminated due to the Fortnite developer knowingly violating App Store policy. Epic Games still had a few apps available for iOS aside from Fortnite, and they were all removed today.
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Amid the ongoing legal battle between Epic Games and Apple, a Fortnite competitor is receiving some beneficial publicity in the App Store. When you open the App Store today, you’ll see an editorial story promoting PUBG Mobile, a popular competing battle royale.
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Following a hearing between Apple and Epic’s lawyers about ten hours ago, the judge has made her first ruling on the case. Epic had asked for restraining orders to prevent Apple from blocking Fortnite and the Unreal Engine (as Apple had said it will terminate all of Epic’s developer accounts on the 28th).
Epic ‘won’ on half of it. Apple has now been given a restraining order which prevents it from terminating developer accounts relating to Unreal Engine or other Epic properties. However, Epic did not get a temporary order to force Apple to put Fortnite back on the App Store.
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The dispute between Apple and Epic Games has been going on for about two weeks now, but this is probably just the beginning of a long legal fight. Judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers, who is hearing the case, said today that she is “inclined” not to require Apple to allow Fortnite on the App Store, but also that the decision to terminate Epic’s developer account may be reversed.
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Epic’s latest filing in the battle against the App Store targets Apple’s declaration that it will follow policy and terminate Epic’s developer accounts on August 28th. As noted by The Verge, Epic argues several reasons why Apple should not do this, noting the wide-reaching consequences it has on the games ecosystem that depend on the Unreal Engine frameworks.
Microsoft has submitted a companion filing that lays out the impact to its business of the Unreal Engine. The statement says that “Apple’s discontinuation of Epic’s ability to develop and support Unreal Engine for iOS or macOS will harm game creators and gamers”.
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As Epic Games’ developer account termination is looming just a week away on August 28, Apple has officially responded to the Fornite developer’s lawsuit with a court filing. Despite what Epic CEO Tim Sweeney has said, Apple’s Phil Schiller says Epic asked for a special deal and revealed how Sweeney approached the situation by submitting three emails in the case.
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After Apple pulled Fortnite from the App Store, it didn’t take eBay scalpers long to get in on the action. Some are selling iPhones with Fortnite installed with asking prices of anything up to $18,000 …
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Apple’s lawyers have been appointed to defend it against the lawsuit filed by Epic Games, from LA-based Gibson Dunn & Crutcher. The firm is an acknowledged leader in antitrust cases.
The firm is the same one that gave Apple its victory in the second Apple versus Samsung patent infringement case …
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I argued recently that Apple is at far greater risk than Epic in the standoff between the two companies over Apple’s 30% cut of in-app purchases. One of the risks I outlined is that Apple wins the case, but the publicity prompts antitrust regulators to make legislative changes.
That risk just increased substantially …
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Things are moving fast in the Epic Games vs Apple battle. After Fortnite was pulled from the App Store for breaking Apple’s rules — sneaking in a direct payment method to get around the in-app purchase system — Epic almost immediately filed a lawsuit against Apple. Now the game developer says that Apple is terminating its account.
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