EU to investigate Apple's termination of Epic Games developer account

Epic Games claimed Apple's termination of its developer account was a retaliatory response that violate the Digital Markets Act.

TJ Denzer

March 7, 2024 10:21 AM

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Earlier this week, Epic Games claimed that Apple terminated its developer account in violation of the European Union’s newly implemented Digital Markets Act (DMA). Now the EU seems to be looking into the matter. Apple claimed that the termination was in response to Epic Games purposely criticized its plans to adhere to the DMA and had reason to believe Epic Games would continue to attempt to circumvent its policies. Epic argues that under the DMA, Apple has no authority to be that kind of gatekeeper, but it seems the EU will have the final word.

The European Union shared details about its impending investigation into the situation between Apple and Epic Games, as reported by Reuters. According to Reuters, an EU council spokesperson provided an email signaling its intention to look into Apple’s recent activities regarding the Epic Games developer account.

“We have requested further explanations on this from Apple under the DMA (Digital Markets Act,” the email stated.

The EU spokesperson also confirmed that further investigation will look into whether or not Apple is in compliance with other European regulations over its recent moves:

The termination of Epic Games’ Apple developer account comes as Epic Games was developing and preparing to launch an Epic Games Store app that would allow it to put Fortnite back on iOS devices (since Fortnite itself is still directly banned from iOS). However, Apple claims it was specifically because of Epic’s previous circumvention of its policies even before the DMA was involved.

With the matter heating up again legally, it will be interesting to see where the EU’s opinion falls on Epic Games and Apple after the investigation is complete. Stay tuned as we continue to follow this story for the latest updates.

TJ Denzer

Senior News Editor

TJ Denzer is a player and writer with a passion for games that has dominated a lifetime. He found his way to the Shacknews roster in late 2019 and has worked his way to Senior News Editor since. Between news coverage, he also aides notably in livestream projects like the indie game-focused Indie-licious, the Shacknews Stimulus Games, and the Shacknews Dump. You can reach him at tj.denzer@shacknews.com and also find him on Twitter @JohnnyChugs.