Epic officially filed an antitrust lawsuit against Apple in the EU
The well-known game developer Epic recently filed an antitrust lawsuit against Apple in the European Union. The company accused Apple of unfair competition in restricting the iOS app store.
Epic has had a dispute with Apple since last summer because the iOS platform does not allow users to install other stores and developers must pay a commission.
And Epic built other payment systems directly in its popular game Fortnite. Apple immediately removed the Fortnite game after discovering it.
At the same time, Apple also banned Epic game development accounts and Unreal Engine accounts for violating developer policies and then unblocked the Unreal Engine accounts with the support of the court.
Epic has sued Apple in several courts in the United States before, but such lawsuits usually last for many years, so they are temporarily inconclusive.
In the competition with Apple, the developer and Apple had their own winners and losers. For example, the US court ruled that Apple must not block the developer’s Unreal Engine account.
However, the court has not found that Apple’s actions are indeed illegal, so the court has no other substantive actions except for asking Apple to unblock the account.
Now Epic has officially filed an antitrust lawsuit against Apple in the EU market. The company accused Apple of conducting unfair competition through monopolistic application and game distribution.
For example, if a developer wants to contact Apple users, they must agree to the Apple Developer Agreement and use the Apple In-App Purchase Agreement to submit applications or games to the Apple Store.
The use of Apple’s in-app purchase agreement requires a 30% commission to Apple, and if the developer does not agree, they will not be able to put their games on the Apple Store.
At the same time, Apple does not allow users to install other app stores on iOS devices. Although it can be installed by jailbreaking, it is very difficult for ordinary users.