BRUSSELS (Reuters) – Fortnite creator Epic Games has taken its fight against Apple to European Union antitrust regulators, intensifying the dispute with the iPhone maker over its App Store payment system and controlling app downloads.
The two companies have been in a legal dispute since last August, when the game maker tried to avoid Apple’s 30% tax on some in-app purchases on the App Store by launching its own in-app payment system.
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 chief executive Tim Sweeney said that Apple’s control over its platform unbalanced the game.
“The 30% they charge as an app fee, they can make it 50%, 90% or 100%. According to his 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.
The company also accused Apple of preventing rivals from launching its own game subscription service on its platform, by preventing them from bundling multiple games, although its own Apple Arcade service does.
Apple said its rules apply equally to all developers and that Epic has violated them.
“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.
“His reckless behavior has turned customers into pawns, and we look forward to making that clear to the European Commission,” he said.
Apple has taken small steps in recent months to change its practices, including lower fees for some developers and giving them a way to challenge their decisions, both of which have not satisfied company critics.
Fortnite is scheduled to return to the iPhone at some point in the mobile Safari browser. Epic and Apple in recent weeks exchanged documents and testified before a trial scheduled for May in the Epic lawsuit opened last year.
The Commission, which is investigating Apple’s mobile payment system, Apple Pay and the App Store, confirmed receipt of the complaint.
“We will evaluate it based on our standard procedures,” said a Commission spokeswoman.
Epic Games also filed a complaint with the UK Competition Appeal Court and the Australian watchdog.
Major companies like Microsoft Corp, Spotify and Match Group Inc have also criticized Apple’s App Store fees and rules.
Reporting by Foo Yun Chee; Additional reporting by Stephen Nellis and Paresh Dave in San Francisco; Editing by Barbara Lewis, Edmund Blair and David Goodman