Apple has hit back at Epic Games for filing a lawsuit against its App Store policies, saying the Fortnite game developer has created its own problems and Epic's actions are putting the "entire App Store model at risk". In a response filed in the court, Apple said that in the wake of its own voluntary actions, Epic Games now seeks emergency relief.
"But the ‘emergency' is entirely of Epic's own making. Developers who work to deceive Apple, as Epic has done here, are terminated," said the Cupertino-based iPhone maker that has become the first US company to reach the $2 trillion mark. In the declaration to the court, Apple executive Phil Schiller wrote that Epic CEO Tim Sweeney asked for a "special deal with only Epic that would fundamentally change the way in which Epic offers apps on Apple's iOS platform".
Sweeney took to Twitter, saying 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...'" he tweeted.
The Epic CEO said that he hopes Apple will reflect on its platform restrictions and begin to make historic changes "that bring to the world's billion iOS consumers the rights and freedoms enjoyed on the world's leading open computing platforms including Windows and macOS". Epic Games filed a lawsuit against Apple last week, alleging that the tech giant is threatening to terminate its developer account by August 28 which would cut the company off from iOS and macOS development tools.
Apple earlier said in its response that the App Store is not simply a marketplace. "We cannot be confident that Epic or any developer would uphold the same rigorous standards of privacy, security, and content as Apple". Launched in 2017, Fortnite features a battle royale format where 100 players compete to survive as the last player standing on a remote island. The popular game has amassed a huge following of 350 million players, and is available on multiple platforms.
Soon after Apple removed the popular video game Fortnite from its App Store for allegedly violating in-app payment guidelines, Epic Games has announced a free Fortnite tournament on August 23 where players can compete to win anti-Apple prizes.
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