The latest development on the European Union's Digital Markets Act taking effect is Epic Games' famed battle royale game, Fortnite, coming back to the iOS, but not through the Apple App Store. This would be through the third-party platform called the 'Epic Store' which will arrive later this year, but amidst this development, Epic's CEO Tim Sweeney is throwing massive shade against Apple.
In these new statements from the Epic Games CEO, he regarded Apple's new policy for third-party app stores to be anti-competitive, going as far as to say it is illegal.
Epic Games Throw Shade to Apple for Third-Party App Stores
GettyImages /Rachel Luna
Throughout the day, Epic's Tim Sweeney threw massive shade against Apple for what it will allegedly ask developers to pay if they launch their apps to third-party platforms and offer sideloading. In a series of posts and reposts via X, Sweeney claimed how this new move of Apple is to "thwart" the Digital Markets Act law, going as far as saying that this is an "instance of Malicious Compliance."
They are forcing developers to choose between App Store exclusivity and the store terms, which will be illegal under DMA, or accept a new also-illegal anticompetitive scheme rife with new Junk Fees on downloads and new Apple taxes on payments they don't process.
Sweeney said that Apple proposes to choose which stores could compete with the App Store and would block who it wants to. This came after Apple announced the changescoming to the iOS and App Store in the EU.
Apple's plan to thwart Europe's new Digital Markets Act law is a devious new instance of Malicious Compliance.
They are forcing developers to choose between App Store exclusivity and the store terms, which will be illegal under DMA, or accept a new also-illegal anticompetitive…
Sweeney's post also came after Fortnite's X account announced the return of the hit battle royale game to the iOS, but only for the EU region. He claimed that this would be through the upcoming Epic Games Store for the mobile platforms, looking to be the top multi-platform software that would only charge zero percent to 12 percent fees.
Fortnite's Ban on iOS and Upcoming Return
Since August 2020, Fortnite faced a ban on iOS thanks to its move to provide a third-party payment option for various in-app purchases via the platform, and this was the same case for Google's Android. This led to Epic Games losing as many as 116 million players on the platform, with both companies launching a massive case against the other for what happened.
In the most recent developments for Epic and Apple's case, both petitions were denied by the US Supreme Court for their respective appeals to the decision, but a win for third-party iOS payment channels.
Still, Epic Games has a silver lining for bringing back Fortnite to the iOS and this is through the EU's sweeping legislation known as the DMA that now allows third-party app stores and sideloading for the region.
There is a massive plan for Epic as it will bring its renowned PC-based app distributing platform, the Epic Games Store, to arrive on the iOS and Android platforms thanks to the DMA. This makes it possible for Fortnite to return to iOS as sideloading would be asked of the company, but Sweeney is not yet done with his fight against Apple, especially with its alleged plan to charge developers a fee for this offer.
