Apple said today that it has terminated the developer account of Swedish game developer Epic Games globally due to the company's pattern of unreliable behavior.
Apple shared the following statement:
Epic's material breach of its contractual obligations to Apple resulted in the court ruling that Apple has the right to terminate "any or all of EpicGames' wholly owned subsidiaries, affiliates and/or other entities under EpicGames' control" "at any time and in its sole discretion." Apple chose to exercise this right given Epic's past and current conduct.
A lawyer representing Apple said in a letter to Epic that Epic has proven to be "not trustworthy." Apple said it cannot guarantee that Epic will comply with the terms and conditions of Apple's developer program in the future.
Epic said it planned to use the Swedish account to launch the Epic Games Store on iOS in the EU, thereby bringing the Fortnite app back to the iPhone. Starting with iOS 17.4, Apple allows the use of other app markets on iPhones in the EU as part of Apple's compliance with the Digital Markets Act.
Epic said in a press release that Apple's termination of the Swedish developer's account was a "serious violation" of the Digital Markets Act and "demonstrated that Apple has no intention of allowing real competition on iOS devices."
The response from Epic is as follows:
By terminating Epic's developer account, Apple is clearing out one of its biggest potential competitors in the Apple App Store. They're undermining our ability to be a viable competitor, and they're showing other developers what happens when you try to compete with Apple or criticize Apple's unfair practices.
Epic believes that Apple suspended its Swedish developer account in part because Epic CEO Tim Sweeney publicly criticized Apple's proposed Digital Markets Act compliance plan. Epic shared a letter from App Store chief Phil Schiller, which said Sweeney's "elevated criticism" of Apple's program and Epic's history of "willfully violating contract terms it disagrees with" strongly indicate that Epic does not intend to abide by the rules of Apple's developer program if Epic's developer account is reinstated.
The legal battle between the two companies began in 2020, when Apple removed Fortnite from the iPhone App Store after Epic violated App Store rules by introducing a direct payment option for the game currency V-Bucks in the app. It appeared to be a well-planned move, and Epic immediately filed a lawsuit against Apple, accusing the company of anti-competitive conduct.
In 2020, Apple had terminated one of Epic's other developer accounts because the company's Fortnite gimmick violated App Store rules.
Epic continues to file lawsuits against Apple in the United States and Australia, and the high-profile legal battle appears to be far from over.
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