Epic Games Takes Battle with Apple to Europe

The ongoing legal battle between Fortnite developer Epic Games and Apple Inc. has entered the European Union. The saga of Epic Games v. Apple continues as Epic Games recently filed an antitrust complaint against the American tech giant in the EU over practices that allegedly eliminated competition in distribution and payment processes in their iOS ecosystem.

Epic Games v. Apple Continues, Epic Games Files Complaint in Europe

The complaints cover roughly the same grounds as those found in the current Epic Games v. Apple lawsuit here in the US. Epic Games CEO Tim Sweeney has also said that the consumer should have the right to install apps of their choosing from wherever they want to promote fairness in the marketplace. Epic Games has also filed a lawsuit against Google in the United States on similar grounds.

Previously, Epic Games filed similar complaints against Apple in the United Kingdom and Australia.

If you missed out on the legal drama, earlier last year Epic Games broke Apple’s terms of service by implementing direct payment methods to Epic from within Fortnite, passing the revenue cut Apple would have taken as a savings for the customer. Apple responded by removing Epic Games’s apps from the App Store. Epic Games seemed to be prepared, immediately launching their Nineteen Eighty-Fortnite campaign, parodying Apple’s own classic 1984 Macintosh ad. The lawsuit was filed shortly after, and has yet to be resolved.

Apple is just part of the mobile device world, but they still hold a massive amount of market share. In the United States, they hold almost half of the market according to Statista. On Android, you could load the game straight from the Epic Games Store.

Of course, the legal battle between these titans of tech means that Fortnite still isn’t available on Apple devices. There’s still a few low-investment ways to get in on Battle Royale action if your previous weapon of choice was your phone, with Fortnite’s new Performance Mode that should prove to be helpful for players with less-than-ideal PC specs.