Apple Unbanned Epic So It Can Make an iOS Games Store In the EU

An anonymous reader quotes a report from The Verge: Epic is one step closer to opening its iOS games store in the European Union. As part of its 2023 year in review, Epic Games announced Apple has reinstated its developer account, which means it will finally be able to let users download Fortnite on iPhones again. Epic first announced plans to bring its game store and Fortnite to iOS in January, but it wasn't clear whether Apple would grant it a developer account.

In 2020, Apple pulled Epic's developer account after the company began using its own in-app payment option in the iOS version of Fortnite, sparking a lengthy legal battle over whether Apple's behavior was anticompetitive. But even after the trial ended, and neither company emerged a clear winner, Apple still refused to reinstate Epic's developer account. Things are changing now that the EU has implemented the Digital Markets Act (DMA). The new rules force Apple to open up its iOS ecosystem to third-party app stores in the EU. Epic Games says it plans to open its iOS storefront in the EU this year. "I'll be the first to acknowledge a good faith move by Apple amidst our cataclysmic antitrust battle, in granting Epic Games Sweden AB a developer account for operating Epic Games Store and Fortnite in Europe under the Digital Markets Act," Sweeney says in a post on X.

Re:

[Kernel Kurtz]

Dissing intellectually or physically challenged people is just as sketchy as dissing LGBT people.

Then they came for me—and there was no one left to speak for me.

And now Apple needs Epic...

[xgerrit]

I thought it was a joke when Apple announced the Vision Pro and told developers to use Unity for games. Unity's poor performance is tolerable for a certain class of games, but when poor frame rates in VR cause motion sickness, you're telling developers to build products that are literally going to make people vomit. I always thought Epic probably tried to time their attack on the App Store close to the release of Apple's VR headset, but got the timing wrong. That gave Unity a chance to catch up, but then of course they didn't.

And of course, since Apple gave Epic the boot, serious game companies have only consolidated more around Unreal Engine, with developers like CD Projekt Red and Bungie planning to ditch developing their own engines for Unreal. It's really just been a matter of time since Apple started figuring out a way to get Epic back. Acting like they had to do it because of the EU law is a good way to save face.

Re:

[AmiMoJo]

Apple needs apps for the Vision quickly. Unity is crap but easy to churn out apps with.

Look on social media and YouTube at the videos of people being amazed by AR egg timers and AR rulers and trivial AR games.

Look at the iOS app store. It's full of low quality crap.

Apple has always prioritised volume over quality, when it comes to third party software.

Re: And now Apple needs Epic...

[alvian]

Do they need Epic? Mobile games make more money than consoles and PC games combined. And yes, the top end phones have been getting more powerful over the years to run the latest Unreal Engine games, but low to mid tier phones have seen vastly lower performance gains. Those consumers prefer other features over raw performance.

Re:

[tlhIngan]

Doubt it. First, Unreal Engine has always supported iOS, and Apple was forced to un-ban it as it was a separate entity from the one doing Fortnite. So Unreal Engine on iOS is still a thing.

No, I'm sure the reason is purely business. The terms basically ensure Apple gets their cut, and honestly, few people will take them up on it - between the core technology fees and the app store bonds that have to be posted.

I'm sure Apple realizes Epic just happens to be devoted enough to actually jump through all the hoo

Re:

[Anubis IV]

Apple never banned Unreal Engine. Unreal Engine 5 is currently supported on iOS [unrealengine.com] and has been since its launch in 2021 [appleinsider.com], well after the relationship between the two became acrimonious.

The reason Apple is pushing Unity is because they don't like Epic, but there's never been anything stopping iOS devs from building games on Unreal Engine, which is why loads of iOS games use it. None of that changed when the lawsuits started. Apple banned the dev account used for publishing Fortnite, which was and is separate fr

Re: And now Apple needs Epic...

[SuperDre]

Epic's store on iOS has got nothing to do with UnrealEngine. And Unity isn't bad for VR, a lot of VR games are created in Unity.

Re:

[mjwx]

I thought it was a joke when Apple announced the Vision Pro and told developers to use Unity for games. Unity's poor performance is tolerable for a certain class of games, but when poor frame rates in VR cause motion sickness, you're telling developers to build products that are literally going to make people vomit. I always thought Epic probably tried to time their attack on the App Store close to the release of Apple's VR headset, but got the timing wrong. That gave Unity a chance to catch up, but then of course they didn't.

And of course, since Apple gave Epic the boot, serious game companies have only consolidated more around Unreal Engine, with developers like CD Projekt Red and Bungie planning to ditch developing their own engines for Unreal. It's really just been a matter of time since Apple started figuring out a way to get Epic back. Acting like they had to do it because of the EU law is a good way to save face.

Its still a joke. Especially given the stunt they pulled last year by changing their license fees retroactively. Everything Apple has done towards gaming has been a complete joke, this isn't any different.

I suspect it's more how Unity tried to change it's licensing retroactively which has forced a lot of game developers to switch towards Unreal.

Getting Epic back on the App Store is more about avoiding any more anti-trust attention from the EU, not about burying the hatchet with Epic.

Re:

[Plumpaquatsch]

Odd how the "bad performance" of Unity only bothers you on the Vision Pro, and not on the much slower Quest3. How is that?