Fortnite on an iPhone … back when it was something. “/>Epic Games, maker of Fortnite, is loading a new card in the ongoing battle against Apple, while filing an antitrust complaint against the European Union’s mobile phone maker.
Epic claims in its complaint that Apple is using its sole control over iOS apps to block competitors and favor themselves at the expense of developers in violation of European competition law, the company said today.
“What is at stake here is the future of mobile platforms,” Epic CEO Tim Sweeney said in a written statement. “We will not stand still and allow Apple to use its platform dominance to be a level playing field. This is bad for consumers who pay high prices due to the lack of competition between stores and payment in the app. Processing. And it’s bad for developers, whose livelihoods often depend on Apple’s full discretion over who’s allowed on the iOS platform, and on what terms. “
Apple, for its part, said Epic was the sole author of its own woes, writing that the company had activated a feature “not reviewed or approved by Apple”, thereby deliberately and defiantly breaking Apple’s developer agreement. “Their reckless behavior has made customers pioneers and we look forward to making that clear to the European Commission,” Apple claimed.
An ongoing battle
Apple is not wrong in saying that Epic intentionally violated its rules. This is exactly what Epic did last August, when it suddenly introduced an alternative in-app payment system Fortnite purchases on Android and iOS.
Apple explicitly requires all in-app purchases to go through its own payment system, where it requires sales of 30 percent. Shortly after Epic introduced its alternative payment system – which gives players a discount on purchases to give the point – Apple started Fortnite from the iOS app store. Epic, clearly ready and waiting, immediately filed a lawsuit alleging that Apple violated the antitrust law.
That case is still moving slowly through federal court and will continue for some time to come. For now, Fortnite is still blocked from iOS, but other games that use Epic’s Unreal engine are still allowed for the time being. The judge in charge of the case also threw out some of Apple’s counter-defenses against Epic.
A litany complaint
As we have explained before, you do not have to have a literal monopoly on a market to violate antitrust laws. Instead, the law is about how you use the power you have. Although Apple controls a minority of the global smartphone market (Android has a larger market share in the US and worldwide), it can still leverage its business on competitive edge.
Epic is not the first to complain that Apple’s iOS App Store is illegal, and it seems unlikely that it will be the last. In the EU, Spotify specifically filed a similar complaint against Apple in 2019.
Spotify must also use Apple’s in-app payment system to make purchases, including subscription fees. Spotify claims that over time, Apple has made it increasingly difficult for app makers to direct users to pay outside of Apple’s ecosystem, such as through a website. In 2014, Spotify began making in-app purchases on iOS, but increased its prices by 30 percent – from nearly 10 euros ($ 12) per month to nearly 13 euros ($ 15.54) per month – to cover Apple fees .
Because Apple also owns and operates its own music service, Spotify claims that Apple’s fee is directly competitive and harms competitors who challenge Apple’s first-party apps by giving it a price advantage. The messaging app Telegram also lodged a similar complaint with European regulators in 2020.
Apple’s practice for app stores is also being investigated here in the US. Last October, a congressional report examining the Big Power companies’ market power concluded that Apple was using the App Store in an exclusive way. The committee responsible for writing the report found evidence that Apple’s leadership, including former CEO Steve Jobs, acknowledged it. [in-app payment] the requirement would hurt competition and limit the apps available to Apple’s customers. “