BRUSSELS, March 7 (Reuters) – The European Union has asked Apple for explanations over the latest clash with the maker of the “Fortnite” video game, Epic Games, which has been excluded from the games store on iPhones and iPads in Europe, a Commission spokesperson said on Thursday.
The European regulator intends to determine whether the revocation of the Epic Games account is not an attack on community rules on technology.
On Wednesday, Apple closed a new developer account created in Sweden by Epic, which wanted to bring “Fornite” and other games to iPhones and iPads in Europe through an alternative app store, subject to the manufacturer’s approval, under the new DMA regulation.
Epic Games wants to take advantage of the “Digital Markets Act”, which came into force on Thursday, which requires Apple to open its ecosystem to its competitors.
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Tim Cook’s company justified its decision by breaches of contract with Epic Games, as part of a long-standing dispute.
“We have requested additional explanations from Apple in the context of the DMA regulation,” a European Commission spokesperson said in an email.
“We are also evaluating whether Apple’s actions raise concerns about their compliance with the DSA (Digital Services Act) and P2B (platform-to-business) regulations, given the links between membership in the developer program and the App Store as a VLOP (very large online platforms)”.
Under the Digital Services Regulations (DSA), suspending or terminating an account must be a legitimate and proportionate decision, while the P2B Regulations require a platform to inform the business user of any changes to the terms of use and that she notifies him before closing an account.
Apple reaffirmed Thursday that it had exercised its rights, as established by the courts.
“Epic’s blatant violation of its contractual obligations to Apple led the courts to determine that Apple had the right to terminate any or all of Epic Games’ wholly owned subsidiaries, affiliates and/or other entities under control of Epic Games, at any time and in Apple’s sole discretion,” an Apple spokesperson said.
“In light of Epic’s past and present conduct, Apple has chosen to exercise this right.”
Epic said Wednesday that Apple is primarily aiming to keep one of the App Store’s biggest potential competitors out of the picture. (Report by Foo Yun Chee; French version Gaëlle Sheehan)
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