Apple terminating Epic developer accounts, tools access - GamesIndustry.biz

Epic files motion in US courts for a temporary restraining order in response

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Apple is preparing to terminate all developer accounts and cut off iOS and Mac development tool access from Epic Games, following a growing legal conflict between the two tech giants over revenue share and platform policies.

In a tweet today from the official Epic Games news account, the company said it was filing a motion for a temporary restraining order against Apple to prevent it from cutting off its development access, which Apple apparently plans to do on August 28.

In its notice, Epic attests that this action by Apple would cause "irreparable harm" to Epic, including cutting off future development and updates on Unreal Engine for the platform -- preventing developers making apps on Unreal from having access to newer versions, forcing them to move to other engines.

The motion also moves to prevent Apple from delisting Fortnite from the App Store -- an action the iPhone maker already took last week.

The conflict between Epic and Apple kicked off last week when Epic Games implemented a payment option in Fortnite on the App Store and Google Play bypassing the store payment methods and allowing users to pay Epic directly, while offering a discount for doing so.

This resulted in Apple removing Fortnite from the App Store that same day, with Google following suit shortly after.

In response, Epic Games has filed lawsuits against both Apple and Google, accusing them of monopolistic practices regarding their storefronts and revenue cuts from developers, and requesting injunctive action that would require both to open up their platforms further to all developers.

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2020-08-17 19:01:32Z
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