By James Pothen, Reporter
Tech giant Apple reinstated a Swedish developer account on Friday for Epic Games, clearing the way for the Fortnite maker to launch a rival app store in the European Union.
Epic CEO Tim Sweeney called Apple’s reversal a “major victory” for the EU regulation called the Digital Markets Act in a Friday post on X, formerly known as Twitter. Sweeney credited the European Commission for Apple’s quick reversal over the past two days.
“Following a swift inquiry by the European Commission, Apple notified the Commission and Epic that it would relent,” Sweeney said in the post. “A big win for European rule of law, for the European Commission, and for the freedom of developers worldwide to speak up.”
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Apple explained it another way. “Following conversations with Epic, they have committed to follow the rules, including our DMA policies,” an Apple spokesperson said in an emailed statement. “As a result, Epic Sweden AB has been permitted to re-sign the developer agreement and accepted into the Apple Developer Programme.”
The about-face comes two days after Cupertino, California-based Apple suspended the account belonging to Epic, the creator of the popular video game Fortnite. Cary, North Carolina-based Epic said in a post on its website that it would resume its plan to launch the app store, giving it a way to reduce the amount it pays the tech giant for its customers’ in-app purchases.
“Apple has told us and committed to the European Commission that they will reinstate our developer account,” Epic said in the post. “We are moving forward as planned to launch the Epic Games Store and bring Fortnite back to iOS in Europe,” the company said.
A spokesperson for the commission declined to comment on the reinstatement of Epic’s developer account. But EU Commissioner Thierry Breton posted on X on Friday that he was pleased with Apple’s decision.
“I take note with satisfaction that following our contacts Apple decided to backtrack its decision on Epic exclusion,” Breton said in the post.
