Fortnite will not return to iOS in Japan next year “as promised” because, according to Epic Games head Tim Sweeney, Apple has allegedly launched “another parody of obstruction and breaking the law.”
In a series of messages posted to X/Twitter, Sweeney explained that while Apple was “obligated to open up iOS to competing stores,” it instead imposed additional fees, including a “junk fee” of 21% on third-party in-app payments, 15% on purchases made online, and “a new junk fee of 5% on all app revenue distributed by competing stores.”
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Apple announced Earlier this week, the company said it would make changes to iOS in Japan, including new options for developers to distribute apps and process payments, acknowledging that the changes were made to comply with the Mobile Software Competition Act (MSCA).
“Unfortunately, Fortnite will not return to iOS in Japan in 2025 as promised,” CEO Sweeney wrote. “Apple was required to open iOS to competing stores. [on 18th December]and instead of doing it honestly, they launched another travesty of obstruction and lawbreaking, showing gross disrespect for the government and people of Japan.
“Apple made a bad choice. Again”.
In a follow-up tweet, he added: “They charge competitively crushing junk fees of 21% on third-party in-app payments and 15% on purchases made online (a practice that the US District Court already ruled illegal in a contempt case that Apple lost and the 9th Circuit upheld).” He then provided a link to a page on Apple website.
“They are introducing new anti-competitive warning screens designed to mislead customers into believing their privacy and financial security are at risk when dealing with Apple's competitors. They are introducing a new 5% junk advertising fee on all revenue from apps distributed by competing stores, and intend to track all transactions within them using a mandatory reporting API.”
He concluded by calling the changes “a blatant imposition on Apple of distribution and payments that they have nothing to do with, and a practice that US courts have already ruled illegal and upheld on appeal.”
“Clearly, true competition will not occur and consumers will not benefit if Apple abuses its position between users and competitors to interfere with fair business dealings between them,” Sweeney concluded. “This is another sad day in the history of the relationship between platform manufacturers, developers and consumers, and we will be filing complaints with the Japan Fair Trade Commission.”
This is the latest in the five-year feud between Apple and Epic Games. when the Fortnite maker intentionally added a cheaper payment option to its battle royale game, circumventing Apple's own methodfrom which a 30 percent reduction is then taken. The case has been heating up since then, but rarely has it been as dramatic as the 80-page verdict handed down to Apple in May by the US District Court of Northern California, which found the iPhone maker “willfully violating” a previous court order prohibiting the company's “anti-competitive conduct and anti-competitive pricing.”.
Sweeney has previously stated that Epic Games lost about $1 billion in lost profits while the case was pending.
