Epic Gets New Developer Account
Epic Games today announced plans to bring the Epic Games Store to iOS in the European Union, with Apple reinstating the company’s developer account.
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The Epic Games Store will launch on iOS in the EU at some point in 2024, and it will provide a way for Epic Games to bring a Fortnite app to iOS once again.
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While working to implement the Epic Games Store on iOS, Epic also plans to continue to “argue to the courts and regulators that Apple is breaking the law.”
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.
It sounds like their developer account was not reinstated, but rather they got a new account for a different legal entity that operates in Europe. It does not sound like they will be using this account to bring back Fortnite for Mac.
We never understood why Apple killed Fortnite for Mac. Fortnite was never on the Mac App Store and broke no Mac App Store rules. Perhaps someday Apple will explain why they killed Fortnite for iOS while not enforcing the same rules against Facebook, Roblox, and others.
Recall that the account used for the Mac version of Fortnite was associated with the separate Epic International entity that did not violate the App Store guidelines.
Apple plays hardball, for sure. And Apple has a long institutional memory and knows how to hold a grudge. But Apple is not a spiteful company. Apple likes its corporate nose right where it is — on its face. They play hardball strategically — to their own advantage first, to their users’ advantage second. That’s something Apple’s most vehement critics just don’t get. Setting up Epic to be a winner under their DMA compliance also sets Apple up to be a winner.
It does seem spiteful that Apple didn’t restore Epic’s main developer account, or the Unreal Engine account, even after publicly stating that they would do so. Epic had wanted to bring back Fortnite in South Korea after the Telecommunications Business Act required Apple to allow external purchases there.
It would be quite the public relations coup for Apple to get Epic and Tim Sweeney on their side. And game stores in particular seem like a perfect fit for Apple’s marketplaces, because games primarily monetize by getting players to pay, not just be tracked to be shown ads. Strange times make for strange bedfellows.
Previously:
- App Marketplaces: AltStore and Epic Games Store
- StoreKit External Purchase Entitlement for South Korea
- Epic Wants Its Developer Account Back
- Apple Terminates Epic Games’ Developer Account
- Epic Will Stop Updating Fortnite for iOS and Mac
- Court Rules on Epic’s Temporary Restraining Order
- Apple to Cut Epic Off From iOS and Mac Developer Tools
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Gruber's comments made me cringe. Yes, Apple was acting spitefully against Epic and he only undermines his own credibility by acting like we can't see what's actually happening
How could Apple have killed Fortnite on Mac outside the App Store? Couldn't Epic just distribute the Binaries?
@monocool Epic needs a developer account to get the developer tools and to codesign and notarize the binaries.
"But Apple is not a spiteful company"
Does Gruber have any sense of self-awareness? I wonder what "spite" looks like to him.
"They play hardball strategically — to their own advantage first, to their users’ advantage second. That’s something Apple’s most vehement critics just don’t get."
No, no... we are well aware that Apple puts its users second. It's not the critics that don't get this.
@ monocool yes they could have just distributed a non notarised and ad-hoc signed version. They are selling it with their Epic Store, so they have no issues with gatekeeper or whatever.
Much good faith. Very not spiteful. I had a feeling that granting the account was simply an oversight in the first place.
