Fornite maker Epic Games has the support of Microsoft's Xbox division in its legal spat with Apple over the removal of its developer licence.
Apple store western digital. Failed again to force Apple Inc. To put Fortnite back in its App Store while the game developer pursues its antitrust claims against the iPhone maker. A federal judge in Oakland, California, on Friday rejected Epic’s bid for a preliminary injunction that would have required Apple to reinstate the battle royale video game in. Epic took Apple to court after the tech-giant removed Fortnite from the App Store, due to the developer adding a new in-game payment option that broke the store guidelines - with Apple saying it.
Epic Games Launcher
'Fortnite' maker Epic Games and Apple are at the earliest stages of a heated legal battle, and there's already been one major casualty: 'Fortnite' was kicked off the App Store on August 13, and it.
Epic took Apple to court after the tech-giant removed Fortnite from the App Store, due to the developer adding a new in-game payment option that broke the store guidelines - with Apple saying it 'would not make an exception'.
The firm said it would also be revoking Epic's developer licence - which is needed to publish games for iOS and macOS and gives access to Apple developer tools.
Microsoft has sent a statement to the US district court in California in support of Epic Games, saying the development firm's Unreal Engine is critical technology for game creators and would be put at risk if the developer licence is revoked.
If Apple is allowed to revoke Epic's licence it will mean games produced in Unreal Engine can't be published to iOS, putting Epic's business at risk, as developers would have to think twice about using it.
Microsoft said the move would hurt at least one of its own game titles called 'Forza Street' that uses the engine for the iOS version of the game.
Last week, Epic filed a court injunction in an effort to prevent Apple cutting it off, a move which has now been backed by Microsoft.
MICROSOFT USES UNREAL ENGINE AND MANY XBOX GAMES ARE MADE USING THE PLATFORM
Unreal Engine is one of the most popular cross-platform game development engines.
It is used a number of small and large game producers including Microsoft - whose own Forza Street was made using the engine.
The cross-platform tool allows developers to produce the game once and distribute to multiple devices.
This includes iOS, Android and Microsoft's own Xbox platform.
According to Microsoft if Unreal Engine can no longer support iOS developers may have to change engine - a costly process that could kill Epic.
'In Microsoft's view there are very few other options available for creators to license,' thee company said.
'Apple's discontinuation of Epic's ability to develop and support Unreal Engine for iOS or macOS will harm game creators and gamers,' the statement says.
That includes Microsoft who use the platform to develop games.
'Today we filed a statement in support of Epic's request to keep access to the Apple SDK for its Unreal Engine,' Xbox boss Phil Spencer said in a tweet.
'Ensuring that Epic has access to the latest Apple technology is the right thing for gamer developers & gamers.'
In the statement, filed to a US district court in California, Microsoft's general manager for gaming developer experiences, Kevin Gammill, said: 'Epic Games' Unreal Engine is critical technology for numerous game creators.'
He added that many other, smaller developers can not afford to build their own gaming engines, so are reliant on third-party software such as the Unreal Engine.
'As a result, Epic's Unreal Engine is one of the most popular third-party game engines available to game creators, and in Microsoft's view there are very few other options available for creators to license with as many features and as much functionality as Unreal Engine across multiple platforms, including iOS,' Mr Gammill said.
'Denying Epic access to Apple's SDK and other development tools will prevent Epic from supporting Unreal Engine on iOS and macOS,' the statement says.
Adding that this 'will place Unreal Engine and those game creators that have built, are building, and may build games on it at a substantial disadvantage.'
Microsoft says if Unreal Engine can't support games that run on iOS then it would be put at a serious disadvantage when firms decide which development platform to build their next game on.
'Apple's discontinuation of Epic's ability to develop and support Unreal Engine for iOS or macOS will harm game creators and gamers,' the statement says.
The dispute between Apple and Epic began when a payment option was added to Fortnite which allowed users to pay for in-game items directly through Epic.
According to the rules of both Apple and Google's app store, purchases made for digital items within an app must be done through their payment system.
Both firms take a cut of up to 30 per cent from the value of these purchases.
Both Apple and Google then removed Fortnite from their app stores, although mobile users on Google's Android can still download the app directly from Epic's website through a process known as side loading - not easily possible for iOS.
The incident reignited debate around app store payment systems, which some developers have previously called unfair and anti-competitive.
Apple said Epic created the problem 'for itself' but that it could 'easily be remedied' if it updated Fortnite to 'comply with the guidelines they agreed to and which apply to all developers'.
'The App Store is designed to be a safe and trusted place for users and a great business opportunity for all developers,' the iPhone maker said.
'We won't make an exception for Epic because we don't think it's right to put their business interests ahead of the guidelines that protect our customers.'
Analysts believe games are the biggest contributor to spending inside the App Store, which is in turn the largest component of Apple's $46.3 billion-per-year services segment.
The lawsuit comes after Apple and Google came under anti-competition scrutiny in a hearing before lawmakers last month.
During the hearing, Apple Chief Executive Tim Cook argued that Apple is not anti-competitive because it does not have majority share in any markets where it operates, including mobile phones, where devices powered by Alphabet Inc's Android have greater market share.
Epic's lawsuit, however, argued that app distribution and in-app payments for Apple devices constitute their own distinct market for anti-competition purposes because Apple users rarely leave its 'sticky' ecosystem.
Epic's free-to-play battle-royal videogame 'Fortnite' has reached massive popularity among young gamers since its launch in 2017, and competes with Tencent Holdings' 'PlayerUnknown's Battlegrounds'.
The title's removal from the App Store means that new players will not be able to download it and that existing players cannot receive updates, but the game should continue to work on devices where it is already installed.
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CUPERTINO (CBS SF /CNN) — A federal judge presiding over a high-stakes antitrust lawsuit between Apple and Epic Games — maker of the popular video game Fortnite — repeatedly slammed Epic on Monday on its legal theories and tactics in the company’s case against the iOS App Store, a court battle that could reshape the digital economy.
Epic is seeking a temporary court order that would force Apple to unblock Fortnite from its iOS App Store. Apple removed the game in August after Epic pushed a software update to the app that allowed players to circumvent Apple’s proprietary in-app payment system — a move that is contractually prohibited.
The case is considered a potentially landmark suit, one that tests the frontiers of antitrust law, said Judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers of the United States District Court for the Northern District of California. She did not give a timeframe for a decision on the injunction. She also said that given her schedule, the case is not likely to go to trial until July 2021. And, she added, she would prefer the case be tried before a jury.
Monday’s arguments will not determine the final outcome of the lawsuit — only whether Gonzalez Rogers grants Epic’s request for a preliminary injunction. But the court clash, which was livestreamed on Zoom, offered a preview of what a jury could hear next summer, as well as a peek into the judge’s early views in the case.
Epic Games declined to comment. Apple did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Judge Gonzalez Rogers looked skeptically at many of Epic’s claims, explicitly telling the company several times in the hearing she was not persuaded by its arguments or its strategy.
Epic knew that it was breaching its contract with Apple when it published the update, but did it anyway, she said, accusing the company of dishonesty.
Epic Games Fortnite Apple Download
Apple has justified its app store policies partly as a way to protect consumers from security risks and malicious software. Epic has countered that it is a credible business that has been on the iOS App Store for years and poses no security threat. But Gonzalez Rogers said that is not the issue.
“You did something, you lied about it by omission, by not being forthcoming. That’s the security issue. That’s the security issue!” Gonzalez Rogers told Epic. “There are a lot of people in the public who consider you guys heroes for what you guys did, but it’s still not honest.”
Epic’s attorneys acknowledged that the company breached its agreement with Apple but claimed Epic was simply refusing to comply with an anti-competitive contract, and that forcing a legal battle was part of Epic’s plan.
“When you are taking on the biggest company in the world, and you’re taking it on where you know it’s going to retaliate, you don’t lie down in the street and die,” said Epic’s attorney, Katherine Forrest. “You plan very carefully on how you’re going to respond.”
Gonzalez Rogers’ pique with Epic extended to many of the company’s legal theories. Epic has alleged that Apple, through its developer rules, is abusing its tight grip on the iOS App Store to harm innovation, competition and consumers in the market for iOS app sales.
Tens of millions of iOS users have been harmed, Epic alleged, by what it described as a retaliatory decision by Apple to remove Fortnite from the iOS App Store. The decision reflects Apple’s ironclad control and unlawful monopoly maintenance, Epic argued.
It also cited Apple’s in-app payment system as an example of illegal tying — when a company bundles two products together for anti-competitive gain. Apple tv apps for directv.
But there is no tying going on with Apple’s in-app payment system, Gonzalez Rogers observed.
“I’m not particularly persuaded,” she said of the in-app payment mechanism. “I just don’t see this as a separate and distinct product.”
Nor did the judge buy Epic’s argument that Apple has harmed the distribution of Fortnite because of Apple’s exclusive control of the iOS App Store. Fortnite players on iOS have a variety of choices to access the game even if it is no longer available on iOS, she said.
Apple Blocks Fortnite
“Walled gardens have existed for decades,” she said. “Nintendo has had a walled garden. Sony has had a walled garden. Microsoft has had a walled garden. What Apple’s doing is not much different… It’s hard to ignore the economics of the industry, which is what you’re asking me to do.”
For its part, Apple alleged that Epic CEO Tim Sweeney is attempting to lead a developer revolt that cuts at the heart of Apple’s business model.
“Mr. Sweeney is trying to be the Pied Piper of other developers,” said Apple lawyer Ted Boutrous. He said Epic wants others to “cheat, breach [their] agreement [and] sneak in software to bypass app review.”
A finding in Epic’s favor would be a “green light to other companies and that would be very dangerous,” he argued.