Fortress employees Epic Games publicly criticized Apple on Friday, after its latest proposal for a rival iOS app store was rejected by the smartphone maker. The company said on X that the rejection stemmed from Apple’s belief that Epic’s app store design was too similar to Apple’s own.
The decision comes after Epic’s efforts to submit The Epic Games Store launched on iOS last week, a move that allows iPhone and iPad users to download games to their devices without visiting Apple’s App Store.
“Apple’s refusal is arbitrary, obstructive, and a violation of the DMA. [Digital Markets Act],” Epic said Friday in a statement posted to X, adding that the company has shared its concerns with the European Commission. Apple has rejected Epic’s Game Store notarization application — a process in which apps are submitted to the company for review — twice in the past week, Epic spokesperson Elka Looks told WIRED.
The case is part of a broader battle over who should control the apps available to hundreds of millions of people. In a blow to the U.S. giant, Apple has been forced to Digital Markets Actnew EU rules, allowing alternatives to its own branded app store on iPhones and iPads in Europe from March.
“Apple has rejected our Epic Games Store notarization application twice, on the grounds that the design and placement of Epic’s ‘Install’ button is too similar to Apple’s ‘Get’ button, and our ‘In-App Purchase’ label is too similar to the App Store’s ‘In-App Purchase’ label,” the company said.
Epic explained that its naming convention is similar to Apple’s because it “is trying to build a store that mobile users can easily understand.” Apple did not respond to WIRED’s request for comment.
There is more 100 millions those using Apple’s App Store in the EU. The launch of the Epic Games Store will for the first time let users choose where they want to download apps.
That moment is eagerly awaited by lawmakers who argue that tech giants are stifling competition by blocking rivals from accessing their users. “Launching an alternative app store within Apple’s system would make a strong case that the DMA can stimulate competition and thus reduce prices for consumers,” Andreas Schwaba member of the European Parliament who helped negotiate the DMA, told WIRED.
Epic and Apple are longtime rivals. In 2020, Epic File a lawsuit against Apple in California, arguing that the company’s control of the iOS market is “unreasonable and unlawful.” Apple has since exited the lawsuit in the United States (most of) wins. But in Europe, Epic has become part of a growing community of developers. seething about the power they think Apple’s App Store can bring to their businesses and the commission the company charges on in-app purchases.
“Apple keeps app vendors like the Mafia,” says Matthias Pfau, CEO and co-founder of Tuta, an encrypted email provider. told WIRED earlier this year. Epic’s alternative app store proposal is a test case for the viability of alternative app stores that could reshape the relationship between Apple and developers.
The Epic Games Store is currently available on PC, Mac, and Android, but not yet on Google Play. The company now plans to continue seeking approval for its iOS version, saying: “Unless there are any further hurdles from Apple, we remain ready to launch on the Epic Games Store… on iOS in the EU in the coming months.”
