Epic Games Calls Out Apple For “Arbitrary” Rejection Of Its New App Store

Epic Games has taken to Twitter to call out Apple for rejecting the company’s app submission, claiming that it’s arbitrary and obstructive.

“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,” Epic Games explained.

Epic Games continued, saying that it is using the same “Install” and “In-app purchases” naming conventions that are used on multiple different popular app stores and platforms. Epic also said that it is building a store that mobile users can easily understand and is following standard design conventions in iOS apps.

“Apple’s rejection is arbitrary, obstructive, and in violation of the DMA, and we’ve shared our concerns with the European Commission,” said Epic Games. “Barring further roadblocks from Apple, we remain ready to launch in the Epic Games Store and Fortnite on iOS in the EU in the next couple of months.”

Epic CEO Tim Sweeney also chimed in, claiming that Apple is misusing its app review process by delaying possible competitors. “Now it’s disheartening to see Apple twist its once-honest notarization process into another vector to manipulate and thwart competition,” he said.

Back in 2022, the European Union passed the Digital Markets Act, which allowed Epic Games to get a developer account from Apple and make its own app store. As a result, Epic Games would be able to sidestep Apple’s 30% platform fees. However, Apple revoked Epic’s access for a short time earlier this year, but eventually reinstated it.

Currently, there are no available ways to play Fortnite natively on iOS devices, but thanks to the Digital Markets Act, that’ll change in a few months, at least for European players.