Apple Blocks Fortnite Maker Epic Games From Launching Its Own iOS Store in EU
Apple escalated its feud with Epic Games on Wednesday, blocking the Fortnite video-game maker from launching its own online marketplace on iPhones and iPads in Europe.
The two companies have been in a legal battle since 2020, when the gaming firm alleged that Apple's practice of charging up to 30 percent commissions on in-app payments on its iPhone Operating System (iOS) devices violated US antitrust rules.
The latest challenge from Epic comes as Apple struggles with concerns about tepid demand for its iPhones in China, and its stock has tumbled 12 percent so far this year, underperforming its big tech peers in the US Its shares were largely unchanged on Wednesday.
Attempts by regulators and competitors such as Epic to pave the way for rival marketplaces on Apple's devices are a major threat to the Silicon Valley heavyweight's profits and control of its own ecosystem.
European lawmakers are forcing Apple to allow those third-party marketplaces with a law called the Digital Markets Act (DMA) that takes effect this week.
Separately, Brussels antitrust regulators on Monday fined Apple EUR 1.84 billion ($2 billion or roughly Rs. 16,547 crore) for thwarting competition from music streaming rivals via restrictions on its App Store, Apple's first ever penalty for breaching EU rules.
Epic was working to take advantage of the DMA, but Apple blocked those efforts on Wednesday, citing Epic's past breaches of contract in the long-running legal dispute.
Apple terminated a new developer account that Epic had created in Sweden. Epic had created the account in an effort to put Fortnite and other games back on iPhones in Europe by running its own game store on Apple's devices. Apple must allow third-party stores on its devices, under the new European law.
The developer accounts are important because software creators cannot distribute apps to iPhones and iPads without one. Apple had previously terminated some of Epic's developer accounts in 2020, after Epic purposely broke Apple's
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