Epic Games says Apple retaliated over lawsuits by banning company's developer account

Apple has rejected Epic Games' application for a developer account it would use to launch an app store for iPhones in Europe, Epic CEO Tim Sweeney said Wednesday.

Sweeney said Apple's decision was in retaliation over the gaming company's antitrust lobbying, its lawsuit against Apple, and some of Sweeney's social media posts, citing emails from Apple App Store chief Phil Schiller and Apple lawyers.

"The manner in which Apple is going about killing Epic here as a competitor to the App Store is super egregious," Sweeney said on a call with reporters. "This is the medieval feudal lord, mounting the skulls of their former enemies on their castle walls."

It's the first public example of Apple denying competing app stores in Europe, a move that could raise scrutiny of the iPhone maker's plans to comply with a new antitrust law.

The relationship between Apple and Epic Games has been confrontational since Epic sued Apple in 2020 over whether Fortnite could evade Apple's App Store rules and bypass its 30% cut of game sales. Epic mostly lost but forced some changes to Apple's policies under California law.

The spat highlights global regulatory threats to Apple's App Store sales, a profitable division for Apple reported under its services business.

An Apple spokesperson said that Apple had the right to terminate the account, especially because Epic continues to litigate against the company.

"Epic's egregious breach of its contractual obligations to Apple led courts to determine that Apple has the right to terminate 'any or all of Epic Games' wholly owned subsidiaries, affiliates, and/or other entities under Epic Games' control at any time and at Apple's sole discretion.' In light of Epic's past and ongoing behavior, Apple chose to exercise