Apple claims Epic Games requested a special deal behind the scenes.

We’ve been discussing how Epic Games has decided to pick a fight against Google and Apple, as they didn’t want the two tech companies to take 30% cut of microtransactions, which is why they introduced a direct payment method (where they now offer a 20% discount, meaning they’d only take 10% now if it was from the App Store), resulting in both Google Play and Apple App Store kicking Fortnite out.

On Friday, Apple filed at California’s federal judge, comparing Epic Games’ behaviour to „the same as if a customer leaves an Apple retail store without paying for the shoplifted product.” They refuted Tim Sweeney‘s claims when he said they aren’t looking for a special deal. „Apple said Epic is seeking a special deal, but that’s not true. We’re fighting for open platforms and policy changes equally benefiting all developers. And it’ll be a hell of a fight!”, Sweeney said in a tweet. (So are Epic Games Store-exclusivity deals open? Is paying the devs off with them considered open?)

„On June 30, 2020, Epic emailed Apple requesting to offer a competing Epic Games Store app through the App Store that would allow iOS device users to install apps from Epic directly, rather than through the App Store and to offer payment processing options within Epic’s apps other than IAP. […] On July 10, Apple responded that “Apple has never allowed this . . . we strongly believe these rules are vital to the health of the Apple platform and carry enormous benefits for both consumers and developers,” the Apple filing says.

Epic wrote a letter to Apple on August 13, informing them about breaching their agreement, and Apple also noted that they prepared an „extensive PR smear campaign against Apple and a litigation plan was orchestrated to the minute.” Let’s see the filing again: „[W]ithin hours, Epic had filed a 56-page complaint, and within a few days, filed nearly 200 pages with this Court in a pre-packaged “emergency” motion. And just yesterday, it even sought to leverage its request to this Court for a sales promotion, announcing a “#FreeFortniteCup” to take place on August 23, inviting players for one last “Battle Royale” across “all platforms” this Sunday, with prizes targeting Apple. Epic has also launched a campaign against Google, which uses similar policies to Apple’s, and claimed Google is also a monopoly.” This #FreeFortniteCup thing can be found here.

And the story is far from being over. We can’t even imagine how far the two companies will go against each other… Apple rejects Epic’s request, and Sweeney reacted saying what Apple claims is misleading…

Source: WCCFTech

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