{"id":29786,"date":"2020-08-17T16:22:16","date_gmt":"2020-08-17T20:22:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/mjtsai.com\/blog\/?p=29786"},"modified":"2025-04-08T10:10:32","modified_gmt":"2025-04-08T14:10:32","slug":"apple-to-cut-epic-off-from-ios-and-mac-developer-tools","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/mjtsai.com\/blog\/2020\/08\/17\/apple-to-cut-epic-off-from-ios-and-mac-developer-tools\/","title":{"rendered":"Apple to Cut Epic Off From iOS and Mac Developer Tools"},"content":{"rendered":"

Epic<\/a> (also: MacRumors<\/a>):<\/p>\n

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Apple removed Fortnite from the App Store and has informed Epic that on Friday, August 28 Apple will terminate all our developer accounts and cut Epic off from iOS and Mac development tools. We are asking the court to stop this retaliation. Details here<\/a>.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n

Juli Clover<\/a>:<\/p>\n

Cook said that there’s competition to attract developers just like there’s competition to attract customers, likening the battle for developers to a “street fight for marketshare.”<\/p>\n

[…]<\/p>\n

Cook also said that Apple does not retaliate or bully app developers who do not agree to Apple’s App Store rules. “It’s strongly against company culture,” said Cook.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n\n

Josh Centers<\/a>:<\/p>\n

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Honestly, good on Apple for giving Epic the boot. They’d do the same to any other developer who pulled that sort of stunt. For once, they really are treating large developers the same as small ones.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n

Steve Troughton-Smith<\/a>:<\/p>\n

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“But this is just App Review’s normal response”<\/p>\n

…should it be, though? None of this should be normal. We’re numb to it as developers in the ecosystem, but Apple completely cutting developers off<\/a> from tooling & distribution, beyond malware reasons, is insane<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n

Michael Love<\/a>:<\/p>\n

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But I very much look forward to reading Apple’s spin on this, given that just a week ago they were suggesting they would welcome Epic back with open arms if Epic changed their mind about IAP.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n

Steve Streza<\/a>:<\/p>\n

Epic undoubtedly knew this would happen and I’m sure the developer program terms spell that out somewhere, but setting a precedent of “if you sue us for the App Store we will kick you out before you get a ruling” is a chilling effect.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n\n

Colin<\/a> Cornaby<\/a>:<\/p>\n

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Apple terminating Epic’s developer account would be purely retaliatory. Fortnite is down from the App Store, there is no ongoing violation of Apple’s policies. Terminating Epic’s developer account would also affect the Unreal game engine, and endanger other games using it.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

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Basically what Apple is doing is trying to force Epic to upload an iOS version of Fortnite with IAP (which again, is not currently in the App Store) or Epic’s account is taken away.<\/p>\n

We’ve all talked about Apple keeping apps they don’t like on the App Store, but this would be the first time we’ve seen Apple basically put a gun to a developers head to force them to publish an app that’s not currently on the store with an Apple defined feature set.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n

Jeff Johnson<\/a>:<\/p>\n

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Yes, Epic violated the rules, because they’re challenging the legality of the rules. In order to have standing to sue, you need to show harm. The only way to challenge the legality of the App Store rules was to get kicked out, which is the harm.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n

Bob Burrough<\/a>:<\/p>\n

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Lots of folks taking the perspective that Epic got what they deserved because they violated Apple’s rules. However, a corporation cannot enforce a rule that is unlawful. It happens all the time...e.g. non-compete agreements are not enforceable in California.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n

Jeff<\/a> Johnson<\/a>:<\/p>\n

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Apple just proved today that the Mac is no longer an open platform. It’s every bit as closed as iOS now.<\/p>\n

[…]<\/p>\n

Apple claimed that Developer ID and notarization were only for malware.<\/p>\n

This is proved definitively to be a lie.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n

Steve Troughton-Smith<\/a>:<\/p>\n

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Apple threatening to cut off, stop contributing to & optimizing its hardware for Unreal Engine is 1,000% unnecessary & vindictive, and hurts every dev using Unreal on the platform. If they were trying to make Cook look like a liar to Congress, it would be hard to do a better job<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n

John Gruber<\/a>:<\/p>\n

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It’s a fascinating armchair quarterback game to speculate on what Epic anticipated from Apple as a reaction and what they didn’t. Pulling Fortnite from the App Store they obviously anticipated — Epic had both the lawsuit and 1984 ad parody ready to go. Revoking Epic’s developer account, I’m not so sure.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n

rsa<\/a>:<\/p>\n

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Wait did Apple tell Fortnite that in a fortnight they will be deleted? Damn that’s subtle but savage.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n

See also: Hacker News<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n

Previously:<\/p>\n