By Foo Yun Chee
BRUSSELS (Reuters) – Facebook and Microsoft’s grievances over how their gaming apps appear in Apple’s App Store may feed into an EU investigation into the iPhone maker’s company, as EU anti-trust regulators sat that such concerns are on their radar.
The European Commission opened four probes in Apple in June, three of which are in the App Store and its restrictive rules, including requirements that app developers use their own in-app purchasing system.
US social media giant Facebook and Microsoft are the latest companies to raise concerns about the rules, which have drawn criticism from app developers who say they are creating an uneven playing field to compete with the iPhone maker.
Asked about Facebook and Microsoft’s problems with Apple, Commission spokeswoman Arianna Podesta said in a statement: “The Commission is aware of these concerns regarding Apple’s App Store rules.”
She gave no details.
Apple dismissed criticism of its App Store rules, saying the same set of rules applies to all apps to protect customers and provide a fair and equal playing field for developers.
Sony’s PlayStation Remote and Sony’s SteamLink are allowed in the App Store, it said, and developers can reach users through their Safari web browser, where they can also build stores and services.
Facebook said last week that its gaming app was only available in Apple’s App Store as a streaming service and that users could not play games.
Sheryl Sandberg of Facebook Chief Operating Officer said the company needs to remove gameplay functionality completely to secure Apple’s approval of its Facebook Gaming app.
Microsoft, which has a game streaming service called Project xCloud, said: “Apple stands alone as the sole general purpose platform to deny consumers cloud games and game subscription services such as Xbox Game Pass.”
“It consistently treats gaming apps differently, applying more linear rules to non-gaming apps, even if they include interactive content,” it added in an email.
(Report by Foo Yun Chee; Edited by Barbara Lewis)
