Fortnite seen in the App Store on an iPhone on May 10, 2018. “/>In court documents that surfaced this weekend, Microsoft offered its support for Epic Games in the fast-paced Unfold Real Engine maker that is developing a legal battle with Apple over access to the iOS app market.
The legal statement from Microsoft Gaming Developer Experiences General Manager Kevin Gammill responds to Apple’s threat to stop Epic from accessing software development tools used to update the popular Unreal Engine for use on iOS. That threat even came after Epic tried to use its own payment system in the iOS version of Fortnite to receive Apple’s 30 percent platform fee. That move quickly got the game from the Apple App Store and prompted Epic to file a lawsuit in response.
Gammill says that any move that harms the development of Epic’s Unreal Engine on iOS would harm Microsoft’s business, because “in Microsoft’s view very few other options are available for makers to license with so many features and so many functionality as Unreal Engine across multiple platforms, including iOS. “
“Making sure Epic has access to the latest Apple technology is the right thing for gamer developers & gamers,” Microsoft CEO Xbox Spencer added while tweet from a link to the statement Sunday.
Microsoft uses Unreal Engine for iOS games as well Forza Street, and Gammill says that Epic’s software is “critical technology for several game makers, including Microsoft … if Unreal Engine could not support iOS games like macOS, Microsoft would have to choose between leaving its customers and potential customers on the iOS and macOS platforms or if you choose a different game engine when preparing to develop new games. “
Developers currently working on Unreal Engine projects for Apple hardware would have to bear significant costs to get started, Gammill said, while developers with current Unreal Engine apps on iOS will be sitting in place with an engine that can not “take advantage of new iOS like macOS features, repair software bugs, or error in security patch.
“Moreover, this situation could bifurcate the game base of a game so that gamers on iOS or macOS could not play or communicate with friends or family playing on other platforms,” Gammill added.
Sounding revenge?
In court documents filed last week, Apple claims that the “irreparable damage” Epic claims that Apple caused in this case is in fact the “self-inflicted … result of its choice to break its agreements” with Apple. All of these issues could go away, Apple claims, if Epic submits a version of the new one Fortnite which meets the standard in-app purchase rules of the App Store (including Apple’s 30 percent fee).
“The damage that Epic is causing here is completely preventable – here and now,” Apple writes. “The alleged damage to Epic’s customers, or of Fortnite as Unreal Engine, can be shut down by Epic. All users and developers that Epic claims are at risk are only approached because Epic’s scheme included violating their agreements and going to court for relief. Epic has placed customers and developers in this position, not Apple. “
However, Epic claims that in its response to submitting that all the problems are around Fortnite should not affect Epic’s ability to run Unreal Engine separately for iOS. That’s because Apple’s licensing agreement for Apple – which Apple says Epic has broken with them Fortnite direct payment plan – is completely separate from its agreement XCode and Software Development Kit – which governs the testing and development of Unreal Engine on the platform.
“The breadth of Apple’s relaunch [against Unreal Engine development] is even an unlawful attempt to maintain its monopoly and cool any action of others that might weigh against Apple, “writes Epic in the direction of asking to block Apple’s threatening action. Epic only requests that the Court maintain the status quo, so that Epic continues to have the same access to software, software development kits (“SDKs”), application programming interfaces (“APIs”) and other developer tools that it has today. “
Strange bedfellows
Aside from Epic’s battle, Microsoft is also waging its own PR war against Apple over blocking an iOS version of its xCloud game streaming platform. “Apple stands alone as the sole general purpose platform to deny consumers cloud games and subscription services such as Xbox Game Pass,” Microsoft said earlier this month. “And it consistently treats gaming apps differently, and applies stricter rules to non-gaming apps, even if they include interactive content.”
But Microsoft and Epic are making some weird legal bedfellows. As recently as 2016, the two companies publicly sparred about similar platform control issues created by Microsoft’s Universal Windows Platform, which Epic called a “fiasco” and “the most aggressive move Microsoft has ever made.” Epic and Microsoft buried the breakfast open last year, although Epic CEO Tim Sweeney told VentureBeat “Epic loves Microsoft. Epic belongs to Microsoft.”
Microsoft also exercises strict iOS-style control over the software market on Xbox consoles and extracts a similar 30 percent fee for in-game items sold on the platform. But Sweeney said these console brands are different from mobile platforms because of ‘enormous investments by console makers in hardware, often sold under cost, and marketing campaigns in broad partnership with publishers.’
