BRUSSELS (Reuters) – Fortnite creator Epic Games has taken his fight against Apple to European Union antitrust regulators, escalating the dispute with the iPhone maker over its App Store and payment system. control of application downloads.
The two companies have been locked in a legal dispute since last August, when the game maker tried to avoid the 30% share of Apple in some purchases from the app in the App Store by launching of an own payment system.
This prompted Apple to launch the Epic Fortnite game from the App Store and threatened to cancel an affiliate account that would have effectively blocked the distribution of Unreal Engine, a software tool used by hundreds of application makers to create games.
Epic Games founder and CEO Tim Sweeney said Apple’s control over its platform had tipped the fair play grounds.
“The 30% they charge as an application tax can make it 50% or 90% or 100%. Depending on their theory of how these markets are structured, they have every right to do so,” he said. he told reporters.
“Epic is not asking any court or regulator to change that 30% for another number, just to restore competition to iOS,” he said, referring to Apple’s mobile operating system.
The company also accused Apple of banning rivals from launching its own game subscription service on its platform preventing them from grouping multiple games, even though its own Apple Arcade service does.
Apple said its rules applied equally to all developers and that Epic had broken them.
“In the manner that a judge has described as misleading and clandestine, Epic enabled a feature in its app, which Apple did not review or approve, and they did so with the express intent of violating the App Store guidelines that they apply equally to all developers and protect customers, ”the company said in a statement.
“Their reckless behavior turned customers into pawns and we hope to make that clear to the European Commission,” he said.
Apple has been taking small steps in recent months to change its practices, including lower rates for some developers and give them a way to challenge their decisions, which have not met with criticism from the company.
Fortnite is scheduled to return to the iPhone sometime in the mobile Safari browser. Epic and Apple in recent weeks have been negotiating documents and making depositions ahead of a trial scheduled for May on the Epic lawsuit filed last year.
The Commission, which is investigating Apple’s Apple Pay mobile payment system and the App Store, confirmed receipt of the complaint.
“We will evaluate it based on our standard procedures,” a Commission spokeswoman said.
Epic Games has also sued the UK Competition Court and the Australian watchdog.
Big companies like Microsoft Corp., Spotify and Match Group Inc. have also criticized Apple’s App Store rates and rules.
Foo Yun Chee Reports; Additional reports by Stephen Nellis and Paresh Dave in San Francisco; Edited by Barbara Lewis, Edmund Blair and David Goodman