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Apple threatens to revoke Epic Games’ Developer tools on iOS

By Frank Mueller

PARIS, FRANCE - OCTOBER 26: A gamer plays the video game 'Fortnite Battle Royale' developed by Epic Games on a Samsung Galaxy Note 9 smartphone during the 'Paris Games Week' on October 26, 2018 in Paris, France. 'Paris Games Week' is an international trade fair for video games and runs from October 26 to 31, 2018. (Photo by Chesnot/Getty Images)
PARIS, FRANCE - OCTOBER 26: A gamer plays the video game 'Fortnite Battle Royale' developed by Epic Games on a Samsung Galaxy Note 9 smartphone during the 'Paris Games Week' on October 26, 2018 in Paris, France. 'Paris Games Week' is an international trade fair for video games and runs from October 26 to 31, 2018. (Photo by Chesnot/Getty Images) /
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Apple refuses to give into Epic Games as they threaten to revoke access to iOS developer tools by removing them from the Apple developer program.

By now you’ve probably heard of the feud going on between Epic Games and two of the biggest companies in the world. Epic Games has decided to sue both Apple and Google for the removal of their blockbuster hit Fortnite from both Google Play and the App Store.

For those who don’t know, this whole lawsuit stems from Epic Games adding a direct payment method into the mobile version of Fortnite. It allows customers to pay Epic directly so that Apple or Google can’t take a 30 percent cut from the transaction. It also offered consumers a 20 percent discount as a result. Apple stated that this goes against their App Store policies and removed the game from the marketplace. Google did the same with the Google Play store.

Apple has since responded to the lawsuit and refuses to make an exception for Epic Games. In fact, Apple has released a statement that if Epic does not make an update to remove the newly added direct payment method by August 28, they will revoke all access for iOS and Mac developer tools by removing Epic Games from the Apple Developer program.

This is a big shot fired from Apple. Revoking Epic’s access from developing anything on the App Store is huge.

Apple said that they want to keep the company a part of their App Store and developer program and that all of this can be easily solved if Epic just decides to add an update that fixes this who situation. Many people are saying that this is what Epic Games wanted Apple to do and that they are just falling into their trap of claiming the company to have a monopoly. But if the lawsuit does not go their way then who knows what would be the next move for Epic Games.

Epic has responded to Apple’s threat by submitting a preliminary injunction asking courts to stop Apple from revoking access to Epic Games from the developer program. It will be interesting to see which way the courts lean towards. If the courts do not step in and make Apple stop the revocation, then Epic Games has until August 28 to make an in-game update that removes the direct payment option.

Hot. Epic Games is suing Google, Apple for removing Fortnite. light

If I know Epic Games and how passionate they are on this topic, they are going to stop at nothing to get what they want. I have a gut feeling that this whole lawsuit is going to favor Epic in the long run and that this whole battle at this stage of the game is going to be won by Epic. In the meantime, there are less than two weeks before Apple revokes Epic’s access to the Apple Developer Program. Time is ticking!

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