By Jaspreet Singh and Foo Yun Chee
(Reuters) – Apple said on Friday it had approved Epic Games’ gaming marketplace app on iPhones and iPads in Europe after the “Fortnite” maker escalated its dispute with the tech giant, accusing it of hampering its efforts to set up a games store on the devices.
Apple said the latest dispute concerns Epic Sweden AB’s marketplace and has nothing to do with the video game maker’s Fortnite app, which has already been given the green light.
App developers and antitrust authorities criticize Apple’s strict control of the iOS app ecosystem.
Before Apple’s announcement, Epic said the iPhone maker had twice rejected documents the video game publisher had submitted to launch the Epic Games Store because the design of certain buttons and labels resembled those of the App Store.
“We use the same naming conventions for ‘Install’ and ‘In-App Purchases’ used in popular app stores across multiple platforms, and follow standard button conventions in iOS apps,” Epic said in a series of posts about X.
“Apple’s rejection is arbitrary, obstructive and violates the DMA (Digital Markets Act). We have raised our concerns with the European Commission,” it said.
The European Commission, which last month launched an investigation into the controls and audits put in place by Apple to validate apps and alternative app stores intended to be sideloaded, declined to comment.
Epic and Apple have been engaged in a legal battle since 2020, when the gaming company claimed that Apple’s practice of charging up to 30% commission on in-app payments on its iPhone operating system (iOS) devices violated U.S. antitrust law.
Earlier this year, Apple proposed changes to its App Store policies to comply with certain DMA guidelines, which went into effect in March.
It allowed alternative app stores on iPhones and the ability to opt out of using the in-app payment system, but imposed a “core technology fee” that several developers found exploitative.
(This story has been resubmitted to correct unclear text in the headline.)
(Reporting by Yuvraj Malik, Aditya Soni and Jaspreet Singh in Bengaluru; Editing by Arun Koyyur, Shounak Dasgupta and David Gregorio)
