Apple accepts Epic Games Store for the E.U. after facing a public callout from the company

6 Jul, 2024

Apple and Epic Games have been in a yearslong battle over Epic Games' desire to bypass Apple's App Store.

Apple has signed off on the Epic Games Store in the European Union after the gaming company publicly complained that the tech giant had repeatedly rejected their application, which Epic Games said was a violation of E.U. law.

On Friday morning, the Epic Games Newsroom account posted on X, accusing Apple of rejecting the Epic Games Store notarization submission twice because of similarities to Apple’s own App Store. A few hours later, the account shared that the Epic Games Store submission had since been accepted.

The Epic Games Store is a virtual storefront for consumers to purchase various games, including Fortnite.

“Apple has rejected our Epic Games Store notarization submission twice now, claiming the design and position of Epic’s ‘Install’ button is too similar to Apple’s ‘Get’ button and that our ‘In-app purchases’ label is too similar to the App Store’s ‘In-App Purchases’ label,” the Epic Games Newsroom account originally posted.

The posts quickly went viral, receiving over 811,400 views and 5,000 likes.

In follow-up posts, the Epic Games account said that naming buttons “Install” and “In-app purchases” is the standard convention within the industry and that Apple was being “arbitrary, obstructive, and in violation” of the European Union’s Digital Markets Act (DMA).

“Update: Apple has informed us that our previously rejected Epic Games Store notarization submission has now been accepted,” the Epic Games Newsroom posted on X Friday afternoon.

Epic Games CEO Tim Sweeney also reshared the news on X, adding that “development is back on track.” He also complained about delays in using Apple’s TestFlight program.

It is unclear if Apple accepted Epic Games’ notarization submission due to the backlash online.

Epic Games did not respond to a request for comment.

A representative of Apple confirmed in a statement to NBC News that the Epic Sweden AB Marketplace app has now been approved but that they have asked Epic Games to make its Marketplace less similar to the Apple App Store in the future.

Epic Games has waged a yearslong battle against app store companies like Apple and Google, which its CEO has said unfairly takes large cuts of revenue from various applications that have few additional options.

In June, a E.U. commission announced that it would be opening an investigation into Apple for noncompliance of the DMA over concerns about the Apple App Store. The news release claimed that Apple does not allow app developers to be fully independent from the Apple App Store.