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Conflictual relationship: Apple and “Fortnite”

Photo: Dado Ruvic / REUTERS

The smartphone version of the game “Fortnite” should return to Apple’s iPhones in the EU thanks to a new digital law.

But nothing will come of it for the time being.

Apple has blocked an account belonging to developer Epic Games.

After previous rule violations by Epic Games, Apple has the right to exclude the company from the platform, the US company said.

This was also confirmed in court.

Apple retains 15 to 30 percent of the purchase price for transactions in its App Store.

Epic Games wanted to avoid this fee - with hidden software code.

This meant that “Fortnite” players could buy virtual items without Apple making any money.

Apple therefore threw “Fortnite” from the App Store in August 2020.

Epic Games, on the other hand, went to court in the USA, but lost in all instances.

New EU law as an opportunity

In Europe, Epic Games had now seen a new opportunity for the popular game to return to iPhones: The DMA (Digital Markets Act) stipulates that operators of large platforms must allow the download of apps from external sources.

That's why Apple in the EU has had to allow applications from sources other than the in-house App Store to be loaded onto the iPhone for the first time since Thursday.

Epic Games wanted to take advantage of this and set up its own app store for Apple devices.

According to Epic Games, Apple blocked a Swedish developer account the company had set up a few weeks earlier on March 2nd.

A letter from Apple's lawyers states that Epic Games "demonstrably cannot be trusted."

Epic Games described the banning of the Swedish developer account as retaliation for company boss Tim Sweeney's harsh criticism of Apple's implementation of the DMA requirements.

Sweeney had described Apple's planned rules for other app marketplaces as "garbage" and accused the company of wanting to slow down competition.

Sweeney followed up on Wednesday and wrote to the online service X that Apple was trying to intimidate app developers.

In the new conditions, Apple is introducing, among other things, a fee of 50 cents for each additional initial installation after one million downloads of an app in a twelve-month period.

The developers can also stay in the old model and only distribute their apps via Apple's App Store.

However, if they switch to the new system, there is no way back to the previous conditions.

The group calls app installations from other sources a security risk.

Accusations also from Spotify

The music streaming market leader Spotify also accuses Apple of wanting to make sales via other marketplaces economically unviable for app developers by implementing the DMA.

However, there are also announcements about the launch of app marketplaces for the iPhone.

The DMA provides for stricter competition requirements for Apple and five other so-called “gatekeeper” companies.

The EU Commission will check whether these “gatekeepers” are fulfilling their obligations by implementing the DMA.

EU Competition Commissioner Margrethe Vestager recently told the financial service Bloomberg that the regulations should not be “unattractive” for the companies’ customers and users.

vet/dpa