In the latest development to the explosive antitrust dispute between Fortnite developer Epic Games, Apple and Google, Epic has now said that Apple is threatening to terminate its developer account by August 28. The move would cut the company off from iOS and macOS development tools.
Apple and Google removed Fortnite games from their app stores because Epic Games added a direct payment option in both the iOS and Android versions of Fortnite, "bypassing the need to pay Apple and Google a 30% cut on all in-app purchases."
Soon after Apple and Google removed Fortnite from their respective app stores, the game maker Epic Games filed a lawsuit against the tech giants. Fortnite is the world's largest game with over 350 million accounts and 2.5 billion friend connections.
According to Epic Games, Apple has sent the notice about the account termination after the antitrust feud between the two companies erupted.
"Apple removed Fortnite from the App Store and has informed Epic that on Friday, August 28 Apple will terminate all our developer accounts and cut Epic off from iOS and Mac development tools. We are asking the court to stop this retaliation," the company tweeted on Monday.
According to Apple, Epic Games has grown into a multi-billion dollar business that reached millions of iOS customers around the world.
"Upon further review of the activity associated with your Apple Developer Program membership, we have identified several violations of the Apple Developer Program License Agreement. Therefore, your Apple Developer Program account will be terminated if the violations set forth below are not cured within 14 days," Apple said in a letter to Epic, which is also included in the court filing.
According to a report in MacRumors, cutting off Epic's access to Mac and iOS developer tools could have a significant impact on all of the apps and games that use Epic's Unreal Engine.
Epic Games asked the court to prevent Apple from taking "any adverse action" against it, including restricting, suspending, or terminating Epic's access to the Apple Developer programme.
In July, Tim Sweeney, CEO of Fortnite developer Epic Games, criticised Apple and Google for having an "absolute monopoly" on their respective app stores. He especially slammed the 30% cut on in-app purchases and transactions.
"Apple has locked down and crippled the ecosystem by inventing an absolute monopoly on the distribution of software, on the monetization of software," Sweeney said in an interview with CNBC.
"If every developer could accept their own payments and avoid the 30% tax by Apple and Google we could pass the savings along to all our consumers and players would get a better deal on items. And you'd have economic competition," Sweeney was quoted as saying.
Launched in 2017, Fortnite features a battle royale format where 100 players compete to survive as the last player standing on a remote island. The popular game has amassed a huge following of 350 million players, and is available on multiple platforms.
Challenging the iPhone maker's rules as well as Google, Epic Games filed the lawsuit in the US District Court in California, claiming Apple has set "unreasonable restraints" over how it handles in-app payments, reports The Verge.
"Apple has become what it once railed against: the behemoth seeking to control markets, block competition, and stifle innovation. Apple is bigger, more powerful, more entrenched, and more pernicious than the monopolists of yesteryear," Epic Games said in its lawsuit.
In a similar suit against Google, Epic alleged that "Google was founded as an exciting young company with a unique motto: "Don't Be Evil" … Twenty-two years later, Google has relegated its motto to nearly an afterthought, and is using its size to do evil upon competitors, innovators, customers, and users in a slew of markets it has grown to monopolise."
Epic further claimed that Google forced phone manufacturer OnePlus to break off a deal that would have seen a special Fortnite launcher preinstalled on OnePlus phones and also asked other phone makers like LG to abandon any plans to do the same.
Epic previously made Fortnite available to Android devices not by offering it on the Google Play Store but through a launcher on the Fortnite website that downloaded the game.
This helped the company avoid a 30% cut on app stores by making the game available as a "side-load" install.
Fortnite finally arrived on Google Play Store earlier this year upon users' requests.
"Google intentionally stifles competing stores by having user interface barriers. It also includes obstruction to installation, by stifling competition and payment. To finally have competition among stores, other stores need to be able to exist and thrive on these platforms," alleged Sweeney.
Last year, the company released Epic Games Store for Windows and Mac PCs and incentivized game makers by taking a comparatively lower 12 per cent fee from sales.
The Store is yet to arrive on iPhones because Apple has strict guidelines in place, which prevent competing software stores.
Earlier this month, Sony announced a strategic investment of $250 million to acquire a minority interest in Epic Games.
On Sunday, Apple reportedly responded to Epic Games’ dispute, noting that Epic “has been one of the most successful developers on the App store, growing into a multibillion dollar business that reaches millions of iOS customers around the world.”
Apple noted that they were hoping to keep Epic as part of their Apple Developer Program and remain on its app store, the company assisted that Epic needed to act in accordance with its guidelines.
“The problem Epic has created for itself is one that can easily be remedied if they submit an update of their app that reverts it to comply with the guidelines they agreed to and which apply to all developers. We won’t make an exception for Epic because we don’t think it’s right to put their business interests ahead of the guidelines that protect our customers,” the statement noted.
Reports suggest that Google may have a better chance at beating Epic Games in court as it may be more difficult to prove that Google’s Play Store rules violate antitrust laws, as opposed to Apple’s App Store.
With IANS inputs