Fortnite developer, Epic Games, has now made a formal antitrust complaint about Apple to the European Commission. The company made an announcement confirming the complaint.
The complaint alleges that Apple’s “carefully designed anti-competitive restrictions” have “completely eliminated competition in-app distribution and payment processes”. This move, it says is causing consumers to pay higher prices, and gives Apple too much control over developers on its platform.
This is the latest twist in the feud between the two companies. The developer had criticised Apple’s control over app distribution in the App Store, as well as its policies around payments. Its payment policies mean Apple takes a 30 percent cut of in-app purchases.
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Epic CEO Tim Sweeney had described the percentage cut as a “tax”. The company also alleges Apple’s policies give its own services an unfair advantage over other iOS developers.
In November 2020, Apple said it would reduce its App Store commission rate to 15 percent for developers that generate less than $1 million in annual revenue. The change in policy is seen as a response to pressure from developers and regulators.
Epic Games in its announcement says it is seeking “timely and effective remedies” to address what it calls anti-competitive practices by Apple from the European Commission, as opposed to seeking damages.
“We just want to see prohibition on these platform companies using their control over the hardware to exert control over secondary markets; and force them to compete on equal terms with every competitor,” Sweeney said to The Financial Times.
The complaint is set to be heard in court in May 2021 according to the Financial Times.
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