“Fortnite” game developer Epic Games said on Wednesday that it had filed an antitrust complaint against Apple with the EU’s European Commission.
Pierre Briançon for MarketWatch:
The two companies have been engaged in a legal fight since August 2020, when Apple kicked “Fortnite” from the store, and revoked Epic’s developer license after the games maker found a way to circumvent the 30% fee slapped on App Store sellers.
Apple alleges that Epic had acted “with the express intent of violating the guidelines that apply equally to every developer.” The two companies are headed to a U.S. trial due in May.
Epic said that it is not seeking damages in its European Union filing, but is asking the Commission to impose “timely and effective remedies.”The EU probe will be independent from the U.S. judicial trial. But the proceedings before a California court, with Apple Chief Executive Tim Cook expected to testify for seven hours, will give a good idea of the legal arguments developed in the case.
MacDailyNews Take: Again, it’s simple: Epic Games wants to enjoy all of the benefits of Apple’s App Store, including access to well over one billion of the world’s most affluent users for free. That is illogical, unfair, and, basically, theft.