Apple must explain to EU regulators exactly how its blocking decision meets the requirements of the Digital Markets Act (DMA).
The other day, Apple released iOS 17.4, giving users the opportunity to download apps and games from third-party app stores — Epic was also preparing its own alternative, but due to the fact that its developer account was unexpectedly blocked again, the plans have been postponed for now.
Apple initially attributed its decision to Epic’s “unreliability” – and responded by claiming a violation of DMA and an attempt to prevent “serious competition”. It seems that we should expect another court battle in the series “Apple vs. Epic Games”. Moreover, the European Commission has already taken an interest in Apple’s blocking decision, demanding additional clarifications, Bloomberg reports. Just a week ago, the company was fined almost $2 billion in the EU for restraining competitors following Spotify’s complaint.
The new EU Digital Markets Act aims to make digital markets fairer and more competitive, and imposes strict requirements on companies such as Apple, Google, Amazon and Meta — fines of up to 10% of a company’s total annual revenue worldwide and 20 % for repeated violation.
The European Commission also said it was looking into whether Apple’s behavior contravened other digital transparency rules for business users.
The conflict between Apple and Epic started in 2020, when the latter added its own payment system for Fortnite’s virtual currency and bypassed the 30% commission for purchases in the App Store. Apple shut Epic down from its app store, which eventually led to a number of ships.
“Epic’s gross breach of contractual obligations to Apple has resulted in the courts determining that we have the right to terminate the operations of any or all Epic Games subsidiaries,” Apple said in a statement. “In light of Epic’s past and current conduct, Apple has decided to exercise this right.”
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