Apple’s Epic fail powers up EU tech oversight cred

Once bitten. Apple looks to have pulled off that rare feat: O-turn. Last month $2.6 trillion firm video game maker Epic Games a developer account – necessary for Epic to create a competing app store on iPhones in European Union. n, on Wednesday, Epic announced that Apple h terminated that permission. Finally, according to an Epic statement late on Friday, Tim Cook’s company approved it again. about-face hands EU’s Digital Markets Act (DMA), with which tech giants last week h to officially demonstrate compliance, a handy instant win.

feud between Apple and privately held Epic goes way back. games maker h long complained about 30% cut that Apple’s App Store took when gamers paid Epic for extra features in its apps. It h also lamented inability of developers to open rival marketplaces on Apple’s mobile platform. Eventually, in August 2020, Epic changed its software to allow players of its flagship “Fortnite” title to purchase in-game items directly from itself rar than via Apple. Tim Cook’s firm promptly booted game off its store for breaking rules.

This wrangling left a nuanced legacy. When Epic sued, accusing Big Tech giant of anticompetitive behaviour, U.S. courts largely ruled that Apple was in right. But EU’s DMA, which requires phone makers to allow for rival app stores in 27-country bloc, meant that Epic could look forward to setting up its own app store on iPhones anyway, at least for European customers.

Hence why Apple’s call to terminate Epic’s developer account was controversial. Though it applied globally, with iPhone maker citing concerns that past breaches of Apple rules might happen again, Epic was quick to paint edict as non-compliance with DMA. Indeed, any Epic mobile store would probably have been one of larger alternative app stores for EU-based Apple users, along with a yet-to-be-worked-out Microsoft gaming marketplace. As well as DMA, Commission said it was also evaluating wher Apple’s actions were compliant with Digital Services Act, which relates to consumer protection, and Platform to Business Regulation, which has to do with account closures.

ability to flog more “Fortnite” gear to European iPhone users is unlikely to move financial needle too much for Epic, which was valued at $31.5 billion in a 2022 funding round and whose shareholders include Walt Disney and Sony. Documents submitted as part of its 2021 lawsuit with Apple suggested that less than a tenth of “Fortnite” sales previously came from Apple’s iOS, with consoles such as Xbox and PlayStation accounting for vast majority of revenue.

Eir way Apple’s O-turn is helpful for EU. H Cook persisted in arguing that his hostility was directed at Epic rar than competition per se, Brussels would have been obliged to work out a response. That would have been a tricky balance to strike – despite last week’s $2 billion fine on Apple, EU has to have a working relationship with U.S. Big Tech. Now that Apple has backed down, it gives DMA a sheen of toughness that might not have been so apparent h Epic and its foe played nicely.