Epic Files Apple Antitrust Complaint with European Commission
Epic Games extends its fight against Apple to Europe. The game developer has filed an antitrust complaint against Apple with the European Commission. He is currently investigating Apple.
Epic Games says it has filed a complaint with the European Commission’s competition office. The complaint specifically focuses on the rules that Apple uses for its App Store. “Through multiple carefully crafted anti-competitive restrictions, Apple has not only harmed competition in the distribution and payment process of apps, but destroyed it completely,” Epic wrote in the complaint. According to Epic, this is in violation of European competition law.
The central question is whether Apple has an unfair monopoly over the App Store. “What’s at stake here is the entire future of mobile platforms,” Epic CEO Tim Sweeney said in a statement. “This touches on the question of whether consumers and developers can do business together directly on mobile platforms, or whether they are forced to use monopolies that go against their wishes.” Unlike other cases, Epic does not want to enforce damages through the European case. “We’re only looking for fair access and competition that benefits consumers and developers,” the company says.
It’s another step in Epic Games’ long battle against Apple. That battle started last year when Epic Games added its own payment system to Fortnite on iOS. Apple then removed Fortnite from the App Store. Since then, Epic has filed lawsuits against Apple and filed complaints with regulators. Apple is currently in court in the US, but Epic has also filed complaints in Australia and the UK, where regulators are now investigating Apple’s practices.
Whether the complaint adds much is the question. The European Commission has been conducting an independent investigation into the rules surrounding the App Store since June last year. This happened, among other things, after various developers had spoken out negatively about this, although the EC investigation is not a direct result of an official complaint.