Epic Games accuses Apple of delaying its iOS game store launch

Epic Games has accused Apple of deliberately delaying its attempt to launch its own iOS games store in Europe, and has filed a further antitrust complaint with the EU.

The Fortnite developer said that Apple was rejecting its app because the iPhone maker considered the Install and In-app Purchases labels and buttons too similar to those used in its own App Store …

Epic Games iOS app store

Europe’s Digital Markets Act (DMA) antitrust law imposed a number of changes on companies who were deemed to be using their market dominance in an anti-competitive manner. Apple was one of the companies affected, with a ruling that its monopoly on the sale of iPhone apps was unlawful.

The company was required to allow third-party app stores to sell iPhone apps, with Epic Games one of the first to announce that it would be doing so.

However, Apple hasn’t yet approved the app, and Epic says that the reasons given are spurious. Reuters reports.

Apple has twice rejected documents it submitted to launch the Epic Games Store because the design of certain buttons and labels was similar to those used by its App Store, the video-game publisher said.

“We are using the same “Install” and “In-app purchases” naming conventions that are used across popular app stores on multiple platforms, and are following standard conventions for buttons in iOS apps,” Epic said in a series of posts on X.

“Apple’s rejection is arbitrary, obstructive, and in violation of the DMA (Digital Markets Act), and we’ve shared our concerns with the European Commission,” it said.

The EU is already investigating Apple for possible non-compliance with the law.

US battle between Apple and Epic also continues

This is just the latest development in the battle between Apple and Epic Games, as the two companies continue to fight it out in a US court also. A judge ruled that Apple does not operate a monopoly, and does not have to allow third-party app stores in the US, but it must allow in-app sales outside of the App Store.

Apple said it would do so, but it would still charge a 27% commission on them (12% for small developers). Epic went back to court to argue that this was an act of bad faith on Apple’s part, as it went against the entire intention of the judge’s decision.

Back in May, the judge strongly implied that she was likely to rule in favor of Epic, expressing disbelief at Apple’s claims that the decision wasn’t financially motivated. The following month she demanded to see all of Apple’s internal documentation regarding the 27% commission decision.