Epic Games is doubling its legal battle with Apple in the UK. As first reported by Bloomberg, Epic filed a new lawsuit in the UK criticizing Apple for its decision to remove Fortnite from the App Store, saying the company is abusing its “dominance” in the market.
This is the first step in Epic’s quest to get Fortnite reinstated on the UK App Store. The company highlights three charges against Apple, all with respect to the company’s control over the payment processing market for iOS applications.
- reserving the only channel for app distribution and / or the payment processing mechanism for in-app content purchases for and by consumers using iPhones and iPads
- using your domain position to charge unfair prices for distributing applications through the App Store and / or using the Apple IAP
- your response to Epic’s introduction of price competition for in-app content purchases in Fortnite
Epic Games is seeking relief from the UK Competition Appeal Court, asking the agency to declare that the removal of Apple’s Fortnite from the UK App Store was “illegal”. The company is also seeking an order requiring Apple to remove the restriction on payment processing in third-party applications.
Another relief requested by Epic Games:
- an order that prevents Apple from taking or threatening future actions against Epic regarding certain changes made to the Fortnite iOS app
- an order requiring Apple to reinstate the relevant Apple developer account
- an order that prevents Apple from making access to iOS software and / or any other Apple software conditioned upon use of the App Store and / or Apple IAP
In a statement to 9to5Mac, Tera Randall, vice president of communications and policies at Epic, said:
Epic Games has filed lawsuits against Apple and Google in the UK, expanding its fight to promote fair digital platform practices for consumers and developers.
The lawsuits, filed at the London Competition Appeal Court, allege that the conduct of Apple and Google in their respective app stores is an abuse of a dominant position and a violation of UK competition laws, substantially reducing competition application distribution and payment processes.
We believe that this is an important argument to be made on behalf of consumers and developers in the UK and around the world who are affected by the misuse of Apple and Google’s market power. We hope to present our case on January 21.
Epic is not seeking damages from Apple or Google in the United Kingdom, Australia or the United States, it is simply seeking fair access and competition that will benefit all consumers.
To recap, Apple removed Fortnite from the App Store because Epic Games implemented its own payment process system for in-app purchases that bypassed the Apple in-app purchase system. The two companies are currently in a legal battle, with a trial scheduled for later this year in the United States.
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