Epic is facing another hurdle in its return to iOS. In a new blog post, Epic shared a letter sent by Apple's lawyers describing the gaming company as "verifiably untrustworthy," saying that Epic's prior actions meant that it could not be trusted to comply with the developer agreement. As a result, Epic says that its plans to release a third-party app store on iOS are paused due to Apple terminating its developer account.
The letteralso cites a post from CEO Tim Sweeney publicly criticizing Apple's proposed Digital Markets Act (DMA) compliance plan, including a thread by Sweeney that Epic's blog post describes as "speaking out against Apple's unfair and illegal practices."
Apple leadership faces some massive decisions in the coming weeks as the contradictions between their stated principles and the intended and actual consequences of their present policies are reckoned with: the app store monopoly, the digital goods payments monopoly, the tax, the… pic.twitter.com/mUxV5ypwcd
— Tim Sweeney (@TimSweeneyEpic) February 26, 2024
The announcement comes weeks after Epic announced that Apple reinstated its developer account. The account was originally banned in 2020 after Epic rolled out a direct payment system into the iOS version of Fortnite, which caused a highly publicized legal battle between the two.
Epic announced plans in January to launch an EU gaming store within iOS and bring back the iOS version of Fortnite in the wake of Apple being forced to open up the App Store to comply with the EU's Digital Markets Act. The DMA targets large tech companies like Apple and Microsoft as "gatekeepers" and is designed to make digital platforms more fair and competitive.
"The DMA was designed to eliminate the very power imbalance that Apple is proving exists today: they claim to have total control to block competing stores and apps," Epic wrote as it concluded the blog post. "We will continue to fight to bring true competition and choice to iOS devices in Europe and around the world."
For now, though, its planned return to Apple's App Store is very much on hold.
Taylor is a Reporter at IGN. You can follow her on Twitter @TayNixster.
