Epic Games CEO Tim Sweeney is not backing down from his battle with Apple over what he calls “unreasonable changes.” This feud has been ongoing for years, with Epic challenging Apple’s revenue-sharing requirements in the App Store. Although Epic’s antitrust lawsuit against Apple was unsuccessful last year, their concerns have been echoed by the Department of Justice and 17 state attorneys general in a separate lawsuit filed in March.
In Europe, Epic’s new Digital Markets Act allowed them to launch their Epic Games Store on iOS and bring Fortnite back to the platform with reduced commissions to Apple. However, Apple rejected the games store twice, citing similarities to their own App Store, particularly with the “install” and “in-app purchase” buttons. After Epic publicly criticized Apple’s “arbitrary, obstructive” rejections and reported their concerns to European regulators, Apple eventually approved the games store but requested changes in a future update.
This approval was deemed temporary by Apple, and they demanded further changes to the buttons in the next version. Tim Sweeney, founder, and CEO of Epic Games, expressed his dissatisfaction with Apple’s demands, calling the situation “absurd.” He vowed to continue the fight against Apple’s demands and resist making further changes to the game store.
This ongoing battle between Epic Games and Apple highlights the challenges faced by developers in navigating app store regulations and revenue-sharing requirements. It also raises questions about the power dynamics between tech giants and app developers, as well as the role of regulators in overseeing these disputes.
As the situation unfolds, it remains to be seen how Epic Games will respond to Apple’s demands and whether they will maintain their stance against further changes to their game store. Apple’s response to Epic’s defiance will also be closely watched by industry observers and developers alike. The outcome of this dispute could have far-reaching implications for the app store ecosystem and the future of developer-platform relationships.
