Apple terminates Epic’s iOS developer account, dashing Fortnite fans’ hopes

Updated March 7: Apple sent us a statement explaining why it terminated the account.

After the DMA forced Apple to open up its app ecosystem in the EU, Epic Games announced that it would bring its own game store to iOS in Europe and bring Fortnite back to the platform there. Though the company still disagrees with Apple’s new developer terms, it nonetheless wanted to make good on its promise to offer an alternative to the App Store for game developers as the Digital Markets Act now forces Apple to allow.

Now, the company says its plans are on hold because Apple has terminated the developer account it planned to use to publish its iOS game store. Epic announced on February 16 that its developer account for this project, Epic Games Sweden AB, was approved by Apple. Now, the company has published a blog post where it says Apple has terminated that developer account.

Why did Apple terminate the account? Epic claims it is largely because of the company’s criticism of Apple’s policies:

Apple said one of the reasons they terminated our developer account only a few weeks after approving it was because we publicly criticized their proposed DMA compliance plan. Apple cited this X post from this thread written by Tim Sweeney. Apple is retaliating against Epic for speaking out against Apple’s unfair and illegal practices, just as they’ve done to other developers time and time again. 

Apple also claims that Epic is a threat to their ecosystem, but this is an entirely unjustified excuse to terminate one of our accounts. Apple has been a long-time public supporter of Unreal Engine. We also have had ongoing contractual relationships with Apple going back to 2010 for Epic’s games, Unreal Engine, and our other creator tools.

Epic Games

The blog post continues by showing correspondence between Epic Games and Apple over its attempt to publish its game store, comply with Apple’s new terms, and secure one of Apple’s DMA consultation slots to discuss rules and compliance with Apple (for which it was unsuccessful).

Apple sent us the following statement explaining why it terminated the account:

Epic’s egregious breach of its contractual obligations to Apple led courts to determine that Apple has the right to terminate ‘any or all of Epic Games’ wholly owned subsidiaries, affiliates, and/or other entities under Epic Games’ control at any time and at Apple’s sole discretion.’ In light of Epic’s past and ongoing behavior, Apple chose to exercise that right.

Apple

Apple seems to be saying that Epic’s past behavior gives them the right to terminate any of their accounts at will, and they don’t trust the company not to break its contracts again.

The legal and regulatory battle over iPhone app distribution and payments, of which Epic Games plays a central part, is far from over. We expect more developments, both in the EU and in other markets, in the coming weeks and months.