Economy. – Epic Games is suing Apple in front of UK regulators for “anti-competitive behavior”

Epic Games argues that Apple’s “strictly restrictive” behavior and rules regarding app distribution and payment gateways constitute a “clear violation” of competition law in the United Kingdom.

In addition, the company accused Apple of “monopolistic practices” by preventing users and developers from obtaining or distributing applications through digital stores other than Apple’s stores.

“By putting competition to its knees and exercising its monopoly power over app distribution and payments, Apple is stripping consumers of the right to choose how and where to obtain their apps, while locking developers into a single store that allows Apple to charge any commission that they consider,” defended the founder and CEO of the company Epic Games, Tim Sweeney.

The lawsuit filed with the Capital Markets Authority comes after the UK’s Antitrust Appeals Court refused to proceed with a lawsuit against Apple, arguing that the United States is the appropriate jurisdiction to do so.

While the lawsuit filed with the Capital Markets Authority aims to denounce a potential anti-competitive practice, forcing the regulators to remedy the situation and sanction the potential violating company, the lawsuit brought before the court was limited only to the dispute between the parties.

In February, the video game company filed a similar lawsuit against Apple with European Commission Competition Services.

The conflict between Epic Games and Apple began several months ago, when the creator of Fortnite enabled the iOS version of the game for a payment platform other than Apple itself, allowing it to skip the 30% commission charged by Apple on transactions. Due to this, something that Apple’s app store policies do not allow, Cupertino has blocked Fortnite updates.

“These harmful practices create artificially inflated costs for consumers and inhibit innovation among developers, many of whom are unable to compete in a digital ecosystem that is being rigged against them,” Sweeney added.

In November, Apple cut its commission on in-app transactions to 15% for companies with $ 1 million annually in bills.