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Fortnite creator Epic Games took his fight against Apple to EU antitrust regulators after failing to advance in a U.S. court in a dispute over the iPhone manufacturer’s payment system on its App Store and control over downloads of applications.
The two companies have been in a legal dispute since August last year, when the game maker tried to circumvent Apple’s 30% tax on some in-app purchases on the App Store by launching its own in-app payment system.
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This led Apple to take the Epic Fortnite game from the App Store and threaten to terminate 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 that Apple’s control over its platform unbalanced the game.
“The 30% they charge as an application fee can make them 50%, 90% or 100%. According to their theory of how these markets are structured, they have every right to do that,” he told reporters.
“Epic is not asking any court or regulator to change that 30% to some other number, just to restore competition on IOS,” he said, referring to Apple’s mobile operating system.
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The company also accused Apple of preventing rivals from launching its own game subscription service on its platform, by preventing them from packaging multiple games – when its own service, called Apple Arcade, does so.
Apple said its rules apply equally to all developers and that Epic has violated them.
| Ticker | Safety | Last | Change | Change % |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| AAPL | APPLE INC. | 133.19 | -2.18 | -1.61% |
“In ways that a judge described as deceptive and clandestine, Epic enabled an appeal in its application, which was not reviewed or approved by Apple, and did so with the express intention of violating the App Store guidelines that apply equally to everyone developers and protect customers, “the company said in a statement.
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“His reckless behavior has turned customers into pawns and we hope to make that clear to the European Commission,” the document said.
The Commission, which is investigating Apple’s mobile payment system, Apple Pay and the App Store, declined to comment on the complaint, saying it was aware of concerns over Apple’s App Store rules.
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Epic Games has also lodged a complaint with the UK Competition Appeal Court and the Australian supervisory body, while claiming damages. He did not ask for damage to EU executors.
(Reporting by Foo Yun Chee; Editing by Barbara Lewis)