After weeks of drama,
Apple
has finally decided to reinstate
Epic Games
’ developer account in Sweden. Under the
European Union
’s (EU) new antitrust regulation, the
Digital Markets Act
(DMA), this account will allow the game maker to offer a competing app store on iPhones in Europe.
Epic Games CEO
Tim Sweeney
took to social media platform X (earlier Twitter) to confirm that Apple had allowed Epic Games to launch the store after a
European Commission
inquiry.
What Apple had to say about its decision
An Apple spokesperson has confirmed that Epic Games’ account has been restored after the Fortnite-maker agreed to follow the
iPhone
maker's platform policies.
In a statement to CNBC, the spokesperson said: “Following conversations with Epic, they have committed to follow the rules, including our DMA policies. As a result, Epic Sweden AB has been permitted to re-sign the developer agreement and accepted into the Apple Developer Program.”
What Epic Games said about Apple’s decision
Epic Games has also confirmed that it would use the account to publish
Fortnite
for iPhones in Europe as well as its own Epic Games store.
The game maker also noted: “This sends a strong signal to developers that the European Commission will act swiftly to enforce the Digital Markets Act and hold gatekeepers accountable.”
Earlier this week, Apple blocked Epic Games’ developer account in Sweden. Citing an email from Apple App Store chief Phil Schiller, Sweeney said that the company did this to retaliate against the gaming studio for its lawsuits and social media criticism.
Soon after Epic’s announcement, European regulators immediately said that they would press Apple for answers about the incident.
The EU regulators also slapped a $2 billion fine on Apple for preventing Spotify and for preventing Spotify and other music streaming platforms from informing users of payment options outside its App Store.
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