Epic Games comes out on top in Apple app store dispute

Apple has accepted the Epic Games Store in the European Union after a long-running dispute between the two companies.

The announcement came just a few hours the maker of hit game Fortnite publicly accused Apple of rejecting the Epic Game Store notarisation submission twice, due to perceived similarities to Apple’s own App Store.

Specific complaints from Apple included that: “The design and position of Epic’s ‘Install’ button is too similar to Apple’s ‘Get’ button and that our ‘In-app purchases’ label is too similar to the App Store’s ‘In-App Purchases’ label.”

Epic Games has posted a follow-up on X to share that Apple has accepted the notarisation submission.

“Update: Apple has informed us that our previously rejected Epic Games Store notarization submission has now been accepted,” the Epic Games Newsroom posted on X Friday afternoon.

Epic Games CEO Tim Sweeney also reshared the news on X, writing: “The Epic Games Store app for iOS has now been un-rejected by Apple and development is back on track. Now about those 9 to 16 day TestFlight app approval delays…”

It is not clear whether Apple’s later acceptance is a result of the online backlash, with many chiming in to defend Epic Games.

A representative for Apple confirmed in a statement to NBC News that the Epic Sweden AB Marketplace app has now been approved. However, the tech giant has also asked Epic Games to make its store less similar to the Apple App Store in the future.

It does seem like the dispute may not be fully resolved, with another post from Epic Games on X reading: “Apple has told some press channels that, though they have approved our current EGS iOS App for notarization, they are still demanding Epic change the user interface in a future version. Epic is disputing this.”

These latest events are the culmination of several months of dispute between the two companies. Epic Games has had issues with Google as well, with the CEO claiming that Google takes unfair cuts from apps.