Salsa Gadgets
Apple’s updated App Store rules in the European Union may have received praise from the European Commission, but Epic Games believes the changes still fail to comply with the Digital Markets Act.

The European Commission recently welcomed Apple’s revised business terms, which followed discussions between the two sides after regulators found issues with Apple’s steering rules and raised preliminary concerns about alternative app distribution.
The Commission also praised Apple for removing its Core Technology Fee and expanding eligibility for third party app stores. However, Apple has replaced the previous fee with a new 5% Core Technology Commission.
Epic Games strongly disagrees with the Commission’s assessment. The Fortnite developer argues that Apple’s rules still prevent developers from freely directing users to external websites for purchases and limit the effectiveness of competing app stores.
Epic also objects to Apple’s new commission structure. Developers using links to external payment pages can face a 10% or 15% commission depending on whether they use a third party payment processor, while alternative app stores are subject to the 5% Core Technology Commission.

Epic launched its own Epic Games Store for iOS earlier this year in regions where Apple is legally required to support third party app stores, including the EU, Japan and Brazil. The company argues that Apple’s fees undermine the benefits these regulations were designed to provide.
Epic has also taken legal action against Google, leading to changes in Google Play’s fee structure and the process for installing third party app stores on Android. The Epic Games Store is already available for Android through a web download, although the company is expected to expand its distribution options soon.

