We were easy prophets when, a few days ago, we wrote that the clash between Apple and Epic Games gave the impression of experiencing a sort of second youth. And that Tim Cook’s company’s decision to close Epic’s developer account would not go without consequences. And so it was (almost immediately) thanks to the intervention of the European Union. Which by virtue of the Digital Markets Act forced Apple to reopen the account of the video game developer company.
Let’s take, as is inevitable, a step back and put together the pieces of this intricate story.
Il Digital Markets Act
The first thing that should be remembered is that on Thursday 7 March the DMA (Digital Markets Act) came into force, an EU law with the aim of regulating large technological platforms, to guarantee plurality in the digital market.
More in detail, the DMA identified six big tech companies that it called gatekeepers. That is Meta, Amazon, ByteDance (TikTok), Alphabet (Google), Microsoft and Apple. These six giants will have to abandon attitudes that smack of monopoly. That is, to take the concrete example of Apple, allow developers to offer app downloads from sources other than the App Store, and to use external and alternative payments.
Everything OK? More or less.
Spotify ed Epic contro Apple
The hints that something was not going right arose a few days after the DMA came into force.
When thirty-four companies, including Spotify and Apple, signed a letter sent to Margrethe Vestager, European Commissioner for Competition, and Thierry Breton, European Commissioner for the Internal Market. The accusations against Apple were explicit: according to the signatories, the Cupertino company acted in ignorance of the Digital Markets Act.
“Apple’s new terms not only ignore both the spirit and letter of the law but, if left unchanged, make a mockery of the DMA and the considerable efforts of the European Commission and EU institutions to make digital markets competitive.”
Apple shuts down Epic’s developer account
A few hours after the entry of the DMA, the twist (which seems to confirm the doubts of the signatories of the letter): Apple closed the developer account of Epic, which in February had announced the imminent return to iOS thanks to a personal store, Epic Games Store.
The reason for Apple’s ban is to be found in the fact that the video game developer company appeared to be “clearly unreliable”. But by what right did the bitten apple company claim the right to close the Epic store, in open conflict with the Digital Markets Act?
Apple refers to the ruling that condemned Epic to pay 3.5 million dollars for breach of contract with Apple. “Epic’s gross breach of its contractual obligations to Apple has led the courts to rule that Apple has the right to terminate any or all of Epic Games’ subsidiaries, affiliates, and/or other wholly-owned entities at any time and by Apple’s decision. In light of Epic’s past and current behavior, Apple has chosen to exercise this right.”
The EU investigation
Shortly after Apple closed Epic’s account, a spokesperson for the European Union announced that an investigation had been opened. This was reported by several newspapers, including the Financial Times.
The EU Commission has asked Cook’s company for an explanation, which allegedly operated by bypassing the rules of the Digital Markets Act.
Apple will reactivate Epic’s account
We then arrive at the (so far) last chapter. And precisely on March 7, when Thierry Breton spoke on X con a post which reads: “According to the #DMA, there is no room for threats from gatekeepers to silence developers. I have asked our services to look into Apple’s termination of Epic’s developer account as a priority. To all developers in Europe and around the world: now is the time to have your say on gatekeeper compliance solutions!”
The consequences of the intervention were immediate: Within a few hours, an Apple spokesperson told Bloomberg that Epic’s account would soon be reactivated. “Following discussions with Epic, Epic has committed to complying with the rules, including our DMA policies. As a result, Epic Sweden AB was authorized to re-sign the developer agreement and accepted into the Apple Developer Program.”
And Epic immediately updated the latest blog post (in which it talked about the account ban), thanking the European Commission for its prompt intervention in its support.
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