Apple Grants Epic "Temporary" Approval to Launch Third-Party App Store

Epic Games and Apple’s long-winded app store saga is seemingly approaching its end. After Epic posted a thread on X accusing Apple of slowing down the process of launching its third-party app store with “arbitrary, obstructive” rejections.

For the past four years, the two companies have been embroiled in a legal battle over the cut that Apple takes from in-app payments. More recently, Epic has designed its own app store to circumvent Apple’s own, where the Fortnite app and other games would live.

In the thread, Epic said that in its latest rejection of the app store, Apple claimed that “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.”

The gaming company also accused Apple of violating Europe’s Digital Markets Act, which protects fair competition in the tech space.

The same day, Epic returned with the news that Apple had informed them that its “previously rejected Epic Games Store notarization submission has now been accepted.”

Update: Apple has informed us that our previously rejected Epic Games Store notarization submission has now been accepted. https://t.co/tl5LY1aQD6

— Epic Games Newsroom (@EpicNewsroom) July 5, 2024

Epic CEO Tim Sweeney, however, noted that the approval is “temporary” and that Apple is still demanding it change the buttons.

“We’ll fight this,” Sweeney wrote.