Microsoft Says Apple Blocking Epic Games’ Unreal Engine Would Harm Game Creators
Apple and Epic Games are currently involved in a major legal battle, with the latter taking on the Cupertino company for its monopolistic App Store regulations. After Epic Games updated Fortnite with a direct payment method, Apple removed the game from the App Store. This was followed by Epic Games filing a lawsuit against Apple. The company retaliated by telling Epic that it would terminate its developer account by August 28 if it did not update Fortnite by then.
Epic Games has filed a preliminary injuction in the court asking for any such action on Apple’s part to be blocked until the final order is passed. Both companies are submitting their motion in this regard. In its latest motion filing, Epic Games says that Apple’s termination of its Developer Program account would be “overbroad retaliation” and an unlawful move to allow it to maintain its monopoly. Epic Games notes that a number of companies have contacted it expressing “grave concern over Apple’s actions” and what impact the account termination could have on their iOS and macOS projects. This includes Microsoft whose gaming executive Kevin Gammill said “Apple’s discontinuation of Epic’s ability to develop and support Unreal Engine for iOS or macOS will harm game creators and gamers.”
Today we filed a statement in support of Epic's request to keep access to the Apple SDK for its Unreal Engine. Ensuring that Epic has access to the latest Apple technology is the right thing for gamer developers & gamers https://t.co/72bLdDkvUx
— Phil Spencer (@XboxP3) August 23, 2020
Other tech companies are closely following the Apple vs Epic Games battle because they all rely on the latter’s Unreal engine for their games available across various platforms. Apple’s termination of the Epic Games’ Developer Program account will hinder the development of the Unreal engine that will put all games using the engine at a “substantial disadvantage.”
On its part, Apple says that Epic Games has “self-inflicted wounds” by adding a direct payment method to Fortnite. It could have very well proceeded with the lawsuit without having to take such a step.
[Via FossPatents]
