Epic Games announced on Wednesday that it has filed an antitrust lawsuit against Apple at the European Commission, which is the executive arm of the European Union.
In a complaint filed with the commission’s directorate general for competition, the developer Fortnite said that the 30% discount that Apple buys in the App Store is anti-competitive.
Epic said Apple “not only harmed, but completely eliminated competition in application distribution and payment processes,” adding that “it uses its control over the iOS ecosystem to benefit itself while blocking competitors.”
The European Commission told CNBC that it had received the complaint and would evaluate it based on its standard procedures.
Epic launched its own in-app payment system last summer to try to avoid paying the 30% commission that Apple takes from in-app revenue. In response, Apple withdrew Fortnite from the App Store and revoked the Epic developer license.
“Epic has activated a feature in its app that has not been reviewed or approved by Apple and has done so with the express intent of violating the App Store guidelines that apply equally to every developer and protect customers,” Apple said in -a CNBC distributed press release. “Their reckless behavior has made customers pawns and we look forward to clarifying this to the European Commission.”
Apple also claimed that its App Store helped developers turn their ideas into apps, adding that Epic was one of the most successful developers in the App Store and became a multi-billion dollar business that reaches millions of iOS clients.
Epic has also filed lawsuits with US and Australian competition regulators and taken Apple to the UK Competition Court.
The two companies will fight against it in a US court in May, and Apple CEO Tim Cook has been ordered to participate in a seven-hour filing.
“What’s at stake here is the very future of mobile platforms,” Epic Games founder and CEO Tim Sweeney said in a statement. “Consumers have the right to install applications from the sources they choose and developers have the right to compete in a fair market. We will not stand idly by and allow Apple to use its dominance of the platform to control what should be an equal digital playing field. “
Sweeney added: “It’s bad for consumers who pay inflated prices because of the total lack of competition between stores and in-app payment processing. And it’s bad for developers, whose livelihoods often depend on Apple’s complete discretion over who to allow on the iOS platform and under what conditions. “
Epic is not the only company that has complained about the Apple App Store. Music giant Spotify has filed a lawsuit alleging that Apple is unfairly extorting revenue, while Rakuten’s Kobo subsidiary and Telegram messaging app have also complained about Apple’s cut in e-book sales. .
Last year, the European Commission launched an investigation to see if Apple was violating competition law by making app developers use its in-app payment system.
Apple had a victory in the US on Tuesday, when North Dakota voted a bill that would regulate app stores.
The North Dakota Senate voted 36-11 not to pass a bill that would have required app stores to allow software developers to use their own payment processing software and avoid fees charged by Apple and Google.