Video game studios, collateral victims of the war between Apple and Epic Games

New twist in the battle royale that the studios behind one of the most popular video games on the planet and the famous smartphone manufacturer have been waging for a few days. Apple decided to remove Fortnite from its app store after Epic Games sought to bypass the 30% commission the company usually receives on purchases made through the App Store. The American giant is now threatening to ban all developer accounts from Epic Games on iOS and macOS, its two operating systems.

PUBG , Mortal Kombat and Life is Strange

The consequences for the studios would be disastrous on several levels. First of all, such a decision would result in the stopping of updates on Fortnite, which are however necessary for the proper functioning of the game. The launch of the highly coveted season 4, scheduled for August 27, could also be called into question. . More importantly, this measure would prevent Epic Games from making improvements to the Unreal Engine, a particularly powerful engine supplied to many studios to develop their own video games. Beyond Fortnite, popular games like PUBG, Mortal Kombat or Life is Strange have used this software. Epic Games could then find itself in a delicate position, and risk losing valuable customers.

Then Epic Games has already filed a complaint against the giant smartphone after removing Fortnite, this new attack has forced the studios to ask the court to prevent Apple to put his threat, arguing that this would cause escalation " of irreversible damage "to their reputation. “ Just over two weeks ago, Apple CEO Tim Cook was questioned during a congressional hearing. He was asked if Apple had ever retaliated against a developer who went public frustrations with the App Store Mr. Cook said, “We don't hit back or intimidate people. It is strongly against the culture of our company ". Yet it is exactly what Apple is doing, " say the studios in their preliminary injunction.

Deadline scheduled for August 28

Not enough to shake Apple, which maintains that August 28 will mark the end of Epic Games developer accounts, unless they reverse their initial decision and ultimately accept the 30% commission. " The problem that Epic created for itself can easily be solved. All they need to do is submit an update to their app to make it conform to the guidelines they have accepted and which apply. to all developers. We won't make exceptions for Epic because we don't think it's fair to put their business interests ahead of guidelines that protect our customers, "said a spokesperson for the company.

Will bend? Will not bend? If the creators of Fortnite have allies of weight (such as Spotify, Tinder or even Facebook) in their war against the commission levied by Apple, it will still be necessary to keep the distance that they maintain the support of the first concerned: the players. Not sure that a #FreeFortnite hashtag is enough to avoid their wrath ...