What started as a dispute in the United States has found its way over to the United Kingdom, asEpic Gamescontinues to duke it out with both Apple andGoogle.
Update (01-08-2025):Epic Games’ VP of Communications and Policy, Tera Randall, offered up this statement in regards to the news that broke today:
Epic Games has launched legal proceedings against Apple and Google in the United Kingdom, expanding its fight to advance fair digital platform practices for consumers and developers.
The legal proceedings, filed in London’s Competition Appeal Tribunal, allege the conduct of both Apple and Google in their respective app stores is an abuse of a dominant position and in breach of the UK’s competition laws, substantially reducing competition in app distribution and payment processes.
We believe that this is an important argument to make on behalf of consumers and developers in the UK and around the world who are impacted by Apple and Google’s misuse of market power. We look forward to making our case on January 21.
Epic is not seeking damages from Apple or Google in the UK, Australia or the US, it is simply seeking fair access and competition that will benefit all consumers.
The original article continues below.
According toBloomberg, Epic Games has expanded its legal battle between Google and Apple to the United Kingdom. Specifically, the company has submitted a complaint to the UK’s Competition Appeal Tribunal. Epic Games’ argument here is that Apple’s and Google’s decisions to remove the mega-popular gameFortnitefrom their digital storefronts was unlawful.
The goal? GetFortnitereintroduced into Apple’s App Store and the Google Play Store.
If this argument sounds familiar, it’s because Epic Games has tried it already. That was in the United States, though. Unfortunately for the video game developer, that hasn’t panned out in their favor. Epic Games’ started its battle with Apple and Google in August of last year, and it has been dragging along since then.
To kick things off, Epic Games made a decision to knowingly break the App Store rules. Specifically, the company added the ability for players to purchase in-game currency directly from the company, bypassing Apple’s payment system. This led Apple to, of course, remove the app from the App Store — and then Epic released a planned lawsuit against Apple.
Epic Games did the same thing with Google when that company pulledFortnitefrom its own digital storefront, too.
Expanding the lawsuit to the UK makes sense for Epic Games, as the company needs to continue to try and leverage whatever it can in its complaints against Apple. Meanwhile, in the U.S., Apple and Epic Games will go to court beginning in July.
