Apple has released a statement in response to Epic Games’ lawsuit after the Cupertino-based tech giant removed the developer’s highly-rated multiplayer battle royale game from its App Store.
According to The Verge, Epic has also said that Apple is threatening to revoke its access to Mac and iOS developer tools by removing Epic from the company’s Developer Program unless it removes a policy-violating update that Epic has added to Fortnite.
In a statement to The Verge, Apple said that Epic has created the problem for itself and it can easily be rectified if they submit an update that will remove Epic’s payment feature and revert to the original settings to comply with the App Store’s guidelines.
Apple also said that it doesn’t want to put the interests of Epic ahead of the safety of its consumers.
Here’s the full statement:
“The App Store is designed to be a safe and trusted place for users and a great business opportunity for all developers. Epic has been one of the most successful developers on the App Store, growing into a multi-billion dollar business that reaches millions of iOS customers around the world. We very much want to keep the company as part of the Apple Developer Program and their apps on the Store. The problem Epic has created for itself is one that can easily be remedied if they submit an update of their app that reverts it to comply with the guidelines they agreed to and which apply to all developers. We won’t make an exception for Epic because we don’t think it’s right to put their business interests ahead of the guidelines that protect our customers.”
The update that Epic had released was to bypass the App Store’s payment gateway, which forces the users to make in-game purchases with Apple’s payment platform. This entitles Apple to get a 30-percent cut from all app transactions.
This policy applies only to digital items which is the reason you are able to buy physical goods from the App Store like groceries and books without having to pay the “Apple Tax.”
Google also removed Fortnite from the Google Play Store in response to Epic’s violation of its policies.
Epic retaliated with a lawsuit against both the tech giants citing anti-competitive practices. To add to this, Epic has also filed a preliminary injunction asking the courts to prevent Apple from cutting it off from the developer program.
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