Apple has responded to Epic Games in their ongoing legal battle. After Epic Games sued Apple for removing Fortnite from the App Store, Apple filed a legal response to explain its decision. Now, Apple is charging Epic Games of trying to arrange a deal to get special treatment
Apple Responds in Court
CNBC reports that Apple wants the court to bar Epic Games from the App Store until they resolve the lawsuit. Apple SVP Phil Schiller said that Epic wanted to get special treatment in the App Store. They supported this claim with emails sent from Epic CEO Tim Sweeney. To make this deal, Epic had asked Apple for a “side letter” to get their special deal.
Apple's statement is misleading. You can read my email in Apple's filing, which is publicly available. I specifically said in Epic's request to the Apple execs, "We hope that Apple will also make these options equally available to all iOS developers…" https://t.co/yRio08fPSy pic.twitter.com/HsqjApFQeo
— Tim Sweeney (@TimSweeneyEpic) August 21, 2020
Apple’s Counter Charges
Apple also stressed that Fortnite’s removal from the App Store was all Epic’s fault. Epic had broken Apple’s policies. The company also said it didn’t deny Epic Games access to iOS.
Moreover, Apple said that Epic Games wanted special treatment for only themselves. The company had asked Apple to let Fortnite charge players for V-bucks through Epic’s platform, not Apple’s in-app purchases. The Fortnite maker also wanted to launch an Epic app store on the iPhone. Next, Schiller added that Sweeney had told him via email that Epic was going to break Apple’s payment rules.
Epic Games Responds
But then Sweeney countered Apple by producing his emails. Through his emails, Sweeney said that Apple was lying. He tweeted out one of his emails to Apple, which stated that Epic wants Apple to loosen its rules “for all developers.”
Apple had already threatened to terminate Epic’s developer account over their legal battle. In response, Epic continues to attack Apple’s reputation through Fortnite events like the “Free Fortnite Cup.”
