The Apple Vs. Epic Games Saga Continues: Epic’s Developer Account Terminated In Possible Violation Of DMA

In the recent past, the Cupertino-based tech giant Apple has faced severe scrutiny from the European Union’s Digital Markets Act (DMA). The iPhone maker has already made significant changes to the App Store following DMA’s directives, allowing third-party payments and sideloading of apps. The USB-C port on the iPhone 15 also resulted from the EU’s uniform charging port demand. However, Apple seems to be breaking one of DMA’s instructions, which requires Apple to allow third-party app stores.

Epic New Developer Account Stands Terminated

Per a blog post published on Epic Games’s website, the company created an Apple developer account in Sweden. It intended to use the account to bring the Epic Games Store and Fortnite to iOS devices in Europe under the guidance of DMA. However, Apple terminated the developer’s account created in Sweden, citing Epic’s past breaches of contract. The App Store owner mentioned that as per the recent court rulings, it has the sole discretion to suspend any Epic Games account for its “egregious” breaches in the past.

Fortnite Maker Claims This Is A Direct Violation Of DMA’s Rules

It is important to mention here that the two companies have been in a legal battle for over three years, and Apple’s termination of Epic’s developer account could escalate things further. Without a developer account, software creators cannot float their apps on iPhones or iPads. Epic says that by doing this, Apple is removing one of the largest competitors of the App Store, which violates DMA’s directives that require Apple to allow third-party app stores for fair competition. “This is a serious violation of the DMA and shows Apple has not intention of allowing true competition on iOS devices,” says Epic.

EU Has Asked Apple To Provide An Explanation

While Apple terminated Epic’s developer account on March 6, 2024, soon after, the EU asked the former to provide further explanation as to why the account was terminated, even after being instructed to allow third-party app stores. Further, the EU regulator is also determining whether Apple has violated other laws like the Platform-to-Business Regulation (P2B), which bans sudden account suspensions, and the Digital Services Act (DSA). Failure to comply with the DMA’s directives could result in penalties of up to 10 percent of the global turnover.

Terminating Epic’s account is a bold move, especially after being designated as a “gatekeeper” by the EU. However, how the regulatory authorities react to this and whether they instruct Apple to undo the termination is yet to be seen.

Meanwhile, Apple Is Also Facing A EUR 1.84 Billion Penalty

Recently, Brussels antitrust regulators fined Apple a hefty EUR 1.84 billion, or about Rs. 16,547 crores, for controlling competition from music streaming rivals. At the same time, the audio streaming giant Spotify plans to refresh its pricing, including deals and subscriptions, for which it intends to redirect users outside of the App Store to its website to purchase them. By doing so, Spotify wants to surpass the new rules put in place by Apple as a response to DMA, which states that developers will have to pay a technology fee for each annual app install after one million downloads.

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