New York (AFP)
Microsoft has intervened in the battle between Epic Games, the publisher of the popular online game Fortnite, and Apple, saying in a legal document on Sunday that preventing Epic from accessing Apple's programming tools would affect the creators of video games like gamers.
Epic Games attempted in mid-August to bypass commission payment systems owed to tech giants Apple and Google, prompting the latter two to immediately remove Fortnite from their app download platforms. Epic immediately filed a complaint.
But Apple also threatened Epic to prevent it from accessing its programming tools, necessary for the operation of the video creation platform Unreal Engine.
However, the latter is used by various clients of the publisher, design studios for video games, films and shows.
In an argument filed with the California court handling the case, a Microsoft engineer points out that Unreal Engine "is an essential technological tool for many game creators."
Prohibiting Epic from accessing Apple's programming tools "will prevent it from running Unreal Engine on iOS and macOS (operating systems), and will cause Unreal Engine and all games developed or developed to be at a real disadvantage. in development "with the tool of Epic, adds the document.
Apple for its part believes that Epic deserves to lose its access to programming tools since the company has broken the terms of their contract.
At the heart of the battle: the 30% levied by Apple on the revenue generated by companies that use the App Store to distribute their applications to consumers on the brand's devices, from iPhones to tablets.
However, according to Epic Games (and other companies), this is too much.
Epic has asked the court to prevent Apple from suspending its access to programming tools until its complaint is successful.
In a new document filed on Sunday, Epic believes that such a decision "would endanger the work of thousands of developers."
"Rather, it is the scale of Apple's retaliation that represents an illegal effort to maintain its monopoly and attempt to prevent legal action from others who dare to oppose Apple," says Epic.
© 2020 AFP