"Apple strips UK consumers of the right to choose how and where they get their apps, while locking developers into a single marketplace"
What you need to know
- Epic Games has filed another antitrust complaint against Apple.
- A new complaint was sent to the UK's Competition and Markets Authority in support of the body's ongoing investigation into Apple.
Epic Games has filed another complaint against Apple in the UK over alleged anticompetitive behavior on the iOS App Store.
In a press release the company stated:
Epic Games today announced the company has filed a complaint to the United Kingdom Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) in support of its investigation into Apple's anticompetitive behavior. This is an important step in Epic's continued global fight for fairer digital platforms. The complaint alleges that Apple's anticompetitive behavior and prohibitively restrictive rules governing the distribution of apps and payment processing constitute a clear violation of the UK Competition Act of 1998. It also illustrates Apple's monopolistic practices, which forbid users and developers respectively from acquiring or distributing apps through marketplaces other than Apple's App Store, while simultaneously forcing any in-app purchase to be processed through Apple's own payment system.
CEO and founder Tim Sweeney said that Apple was "kneecapping the competition and exerting its monopoly power over app distribution and payments", stripping UK consumers of the right to choose "how and where they get their apps", and was harming developers by locking them into a single marketplace where they were forced to pay Apple's commission rates. Sweeney claims this practice artificially inflates the prices of apps and software and stifles innovation amongst developers.
Epic says that as per its other complaints against Apple around the world, it is not seeking monetary damages but rather "regulatory remedies that will prevent Apple's intentional distortion and manipulation of the market and ensure fair access and competition for consumers and developers in the UK and around the world."
Announced earlier in March, the CMA says its investigation has been prompted by its own work in the digital sector and report from several developers claiming Apple's terms and conditions are unfair and could break competition law.
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