Fortnite maker Epic Games has said it will continue to “fight” Apple over changes the iPhone maker is reportedly asking it to make to its own app store.
Epic Games chief executive Tim Sweeney said the ongoing saga over the approval of Epic app store app was “absurd”, after Apple rejected Epic’s marketplace before reversing its decision after the Fortnite maker publicly criticised the decision.
However, some reports said Apple’s decision was only temporary, and it would require Epic to make changes in a future update over concerns some of the in-app buttons appeared too similar to the design of Apple’s own store, something it says it does not allow and can confuse users.
The stand-off between the two companies is the latest episode in a long-running dispute between them centered around Apple’s control of the App Store on the iPhone and iPad, which Epic Games has argued is unfair and anti-competitive.
New laws in the EU – the Digital Markets Act (DMA) – have changed the landscape by introducing sweeping new rules designed to stop the biggest tech firms from cornering digital markets and as a result this has forced Apple to allow people in Europe to download iPhone apps from stores not operated by the US tech giant, a move it has long resisted.
Epic Games said last week that the initial decision to reject their Epic Games Store app breached the DMA and disputed Apple’s suggestion that its design was too similar to Apple’s.
Mr Sweeney said reports of Apple’s approval being only temporary meant the “saga has taken a turn towards the absurd”.
In a post to X, formerly Twitter, late on Friday night, he said: “Apple is now telling reporters that this approval is temporary and are demanding we change the buttons in the next version – which would make our store less standard and harder to use. We’ll fight this.”
This was followed by a further statement from Epic Games, confirming they would dispute Apple’s decision.
“Apple has told some press channels that, though they have approved our current EGS (Epic Games Store) iOS App for notarisation, they are still demanding Epic change the user interface in a future version. Epic is disputing this,” the company said.
Apple has not commented further on the issue, but last week said it was trying to help Epic Games get its marketplace approved and believed the issue was a small matter which could be easily fixed.