Apple is ready to crush Fortnite and Unreal Engine, says Epic Games. Apple refuses to be an exception

Apple and Epic’s legal battle escalated significantly over the weekend. What started as an argument on Epic Games wanting to directly load the players for in-game items for his successful game Fortnite, instead of using Apple’s payment system and the up to 30% commission it charges, has turned into a battle that threatens to disrupt game development in the industry.

After Apple launched Fortnite and its more than 250 million players from the App Store last week, Epic said in a court filing Monday that the iPhone maker is further threatening to ban Unreal Engine code it offers to outside game developers to help them build their own apps. .

“Not content with removing Fortnite from the App Store, Apple is attacking all of Epic’s activity in unrelated areas,” Epic said in its filing, adding that Apple had set the deadline for August 28. “If the Unreal Engine can no longer support Apple’s platforms, software developers who use it will be forced to use alternatives.”

Epic is in a similar lawsuit against Google, who also kicked Fortnite from its App Store on Thursday for attempting to bypass its ordered payment system.

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In a Monday statement, Apple noted that Epic “has been one of the most successful developers in the App Store” and wants it to stay on its service. In order to do so, however, Apple said that Epic would have to downgrade Fortnite to an earlier version of the game to “comply with guidelines they have accepted and which apply to all developers.” This includes the way Epic collects money from players.

“We won’t make an exception for Epic because we don’t think it’s fair to put the interests of their companies ahead of guidelines that protect our customers,” added an Apple spokesperson.

You can see Epic’s lawsuit against Apple as a corporate feud between two multi-billion dollar companies, and the drama certainly wants it. Epic even launched a video parody of Apple’s famous 1984 Super Bowl commercial for the Macintosh, portraying the game’s creator as battling the mighty tech giant. Epic even asked users to tweet the hashtag #FreeFortnite, which became the world’s most popular item on Twitter within an hour of the video’s release.

Despite the antics, Epic argues that its willingness to directly bill customers in Fortnite for in-game items is an effort to loosen Apple’s grip on its app store and the more than a billion devices that it holds. ‘use. Now, with Apple’s threat to punish outside app developers who use Epic’s Unreal Engine, Epic says the iPhone maker is threatening its business model as well.

Apple says his fees up to 30% are reasonable compared to his peers, and he even hired a team of outside economists to prove it. Apple has also argued that the commissions it charges for in-app purchases partly help pay for App Store operations and further development. The notable exception to its peer list is Epic, which charges 12% to developers who sell titles on its Epic Games Store for PC.

The European Union Apple investigates its 30% commission after music streaming service Spotify filed a complaint.

Apple only allows users to install apps from your app store, citing its safety and reliability tests for each application that guarantees their safety. Devices with Google’s Android software can use the Google App Store, but the company also offers a way to manually install Fortnite without having to go through the App Store. People who installed Fortnite on their iPhones, iPads and other devices before the app was banned so far can continue to play the game.

Epic asked the court on Monday for a preliminary injunction in its ongoing legal battle with Apple, essentially allowing Fortnite to return to the App Store until the end of the legal process. Apple does not appear to have filed a response so far, court records show.