Apple retreats in Epic feud, allows Fortnite return in EU
By Stephen Nellis and Akash Sriram
(Reuters) -Apple took a step back in its feud with Epic Games on Friday, clearing the way for the Fortnite videogame maker to launch its own online marketplace on iPhones and iPads in Europe.
Earlier this week, Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) had taken steps to block Epic from bringing back the popular game, which Apple removed from its App Store in 2020 after Epic broke the iPhone maker's in-app payment rules in protest.
Apple's decision to open its door to Epic follows the European Union's Thursday deadline for Big Tech companies to comply with the Digital Markets Act (DMA), a set of rules that bans Apple and Google (NASDAQ:GOOGL) from controlling which apps are distributed on devices with the iOS and Android operating systems.
Epic and Apple have been in a legal battle since 2020, when the gaming firm alleged that Apple's practice of charging up to 30% commissions on in-app payments on its iOS devices violated U.S. antitrust rules. Epic lost its court battle against Apple, and the game maker's bold gambit to intentionally break Apple's rules as a protest got it banned from Apple's devices.
Other Apple critics that have not purposely broken Apple's rules — even ones such as Spotify (NYSE:SPOT), which earlier this week prevailed in persuading EU antitrust regulators to impose a 1.84 billion euros ($2 billion) fine for anticompetitive actions in the digital music market — have not been removed Apple's App Store.
The most recent tangle between Apple and Epic involved Apple's developer accounts, which are normally a minor but necessary administrative step for developers before selling apps on Apple devices.
Apple on Friday reinstated Epic Games' developer account two days after it had blocked the
Read more on investing.com
