Apple has terminated Epic Games developer account. Epic says that it intended to use that account to bring the Epic Games Store and Fortnite to iOS devices in Europe thanks to the Digital Markets Act (DMA).
Epic claim that this is a serious violation of the DMA and “shows Apple has no intention of allowing true competition on iOS devices”.
The DMA requires Apple to allow third-party app stores, like the Epic Games Store. Article 6(4) of the DMA says:
“The gatekeeper shall allow and technically enable the installation and effective use of third-party software applications or software application stores using, or interoperating with, its operating system and allow those software applications or software application stores to be accessed by means other than the relevant core platform services of that gatekeeper.”
Going back to the early years of the App Store, Epic released Epic Citadel on the App Store in 2010, followed by the award-winning Infinity Blade series of games.
Epic and its subsidiaries have a number of apps that are live in the App Store and have a contract with Apple for Horizon Chase 2, an Apple Arcade game built with Unreal Engine.
Apple markets App Store apps and Arcade games that were built using Epic’s Unreal Engine.
Epic say that they are shipping Experimental support for Apple Vision Pro in Unreal Engine 5.4.
Epic further said:
The DMA was designed to eliminate the very power imbalance that Apple is proving exists today: they claim to have total control to block competing stores and apps. We will continue to fight to bring true competition and choice to iOS devices in Europe and around the world.
