Apple has rejected Epic’s Games Store for UI issues twice, says the Fortnite maker, which has also accused the tech giant of being “arbitrary, obstructive, and in violation of the DMA”.
UPDATE: Epic says its Games Store has now been approved by Apple, following some very public pressure, criticism and a call to the European Commission. The original story follows below.
Epic is pushing to launch its own iOS app store in the next couple of months, and last week stated that it had submitted its Epic Games Store to Apple for notarization and approval.
It did not go well, according to a series of posts on X. The Epic Games Store has been rejected twice by Apple for looking too similar to its own App Store, according to Epic. The Fortnite maker strongly condemned the rejection and said it had contacted the European Commission over the matter.
As Epic Games explained on X: “Apple has rejected our Epic Games Store notarization submission twice now, claiming the design and position of Epic’s “Install” button is too similar to Apple’s “Get” button and that our “In-app purchases” label is too similar to the App Store’s “In-App Purchases” label.”
“We are using the same “Install” and “In-app purchases” naming conventions that are used across popular app stores on multiple platforms, and are following standard conventions for buttons in iOS apps. We’re just trying to build a store that mobile users can easily understand, and the disclosure of in-app purchases is a regulatory best practice followed by all stores nowadays.”
“Apple’s rejection is arbitrary, obstructive, and in violation of the DMA, and we’ve shared our concerns with the European Commission. Barring further roadblocks from Apple, we remain ready to launch in the Epic Games Store and Fortnite on iOS in the EU in the next couple of months.”
Epic Games CEO Tim Sweeney also chipped in on X, accusing Apple of using its processes to thwart and suppress competition, paying lobbyists to spread misinformation about its practices, and to make competitors’ products “awful.” “Apple must be stopped,” he concluded.
His remarks in full here: “Epic had supported notarization during Epic v Apple on the basis that Mac’s mandatory malware scanning could add value to iOS. Now it’s disheartening to see Apple twist its once-honest notarization process into another vector to manipulate and thwart competition.”
“While Apple is paying lobbyists to flood X with false claims that European legislation makes iOS worse, we increasingly see that it’s Apple itself who is intentionally making iOS worse in EU: with scare screens, the AI blockade, notarization and TestFlight obstructions, and more,” Sweeney continued.
“Gatekeeper review of apps cannot possibly stand under the DMA when they misuse this power to delay competitors, dictate confusing or non-standard user interface designs to competitors, sherlock competitors by sharing pre-release app details with executives and internal teams competing with the app, and introduce potentially many-year delays to fair competition during appeals.”
“Apple has proven that gatekeeper notarization is as ridiculous an idea as if BMW were required to submit all their car designs to Ford for approval, and to have their product launch be tied up for weeks, months, or years making their car worse as dictated by a competitor who profits from making the review process awful, and from making their competitor’s products awful. Apple must be stopped.”
It’s the latest twist in the long-running battle between Epic and Apple. New laws passed to open up app stores to greater competition have also allowed Epic bring its Games Store – and Fortnite – to the EU later this year and the UK and Japan next year.
But as Epic Games boss Tim Sweeney noted recently on X, there’s still no legislation forcing Apple to open up in the US.
“This is the new free world, from the point of view of app developers and users,” he said on X. “It’s a big club and we ain’t in it: The United States of America is still locked behind Apple’s Iron Curtain.”
