Ekaterina Bespyatova

Apple has threatened to stop supporting Unreal Engine in iOS and Mac

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The war between Epic Games and Apple has entered a new phase. This time, Apple took retaliatory actions. She threatened to delete Epic accounts and block her access to the tools with which the company provides support for Unreal Engine in iOS and Mac.

The details became known from a new petition, which was announced by the creator of Fortnite on Twitter.

The main thing from the statement:

  • Apple has notified Epic of the suspension of its membership in the Apple Developer Program, and the company’s account will be destroyed on August 28;
  • Epic will no longer be able to add anything to the App Store, and those applications that are still distributed through the platform will be deleted;
  • Epic will lose access to the SDK and API, without which the company will no longer update Unreal Engine for iOS and Mac. This will force Epic to stop supporting Unreal Engine on these systems;
  • iOS and Mac game developers will stop using Unreal Engine if Epic can no longer develop updates. This will transform the engine from a widely used product into a niche one;
  • technology markets are developing rapidly, and suspending Unreal Engine support even for the duration of the trial will be critical for the engine.;
  • Numerous third-party developers using Unreal Engine risk losing Epic support on Apple devices for a long time.

Epic considers this unfair, given that initially the claims for violation of the rules were put forward only to Fortnite, but not to Unreal Engine.

“Not content with removing Fortnite from the App Store, Apple is attacking Epic’s entire business in areas unrelated to the game,” the petition says. “Most likely, Epic will succeed in the proceedings, but without an injunction, the company will receive irreparable damage long before the final ruling.”

As part of the petition, Epic is calling for this decision to be frozen for the duration of the trial.

In a response comment, Apple stressed that the problem can be solved peacefully only if Epic starts following the rules of the platform again.

“The App Store is designed to be a safe and reliable place for users, as well as an excellent business opportunity for developers. Epic has been one of the most successful developers on the App Store, receiving billions of dollars from millions of users.” — Apple wrote.

“We really want the company to remain part of the Apple Developer Program, and its applications to be in the App Store. Epic created a problem for itself, but it’s easy to fix. It is only necessary to release an update of the [Fortnite] application in accordance with the rules with which she previously agreed and which are the same for all developers. We won’t make an exception for Epic because we don’t think it’s right to put its business interests above the rules that protect our customers.”

If Apple takes the stated actions, such box office hits as PUBG Mobile and Lineage 2: Revolution, whose total revenue on iOS is more than $2.5 billion, will also be under attack.

The conflict between the tech giants began last week. On August 13, Epic Games launched a new payment system in Fortnite bypassing Apple and Google commissions. In response, both companies removed the app from their stores, for which they received lawsuits from Epic.

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