Epic Claims Apple Threat To Remove Unreal Engine From iOS, macOS

Today the Apple vs Epic Games war is ramping up a bit, with Epic claiming that Apple is about to ban Unreal Engine from all Apple platforms. Epic broke Apple's rules by placing in-app purchases in their game Fortnite, resulting in Apple removing the game Fortnite from their app store. Apple apparently also aims to remove all Epic Games software from their platforms, including development tools for Unreal Engine.

It does not appear that Apple's threat includes games that were developed using Unreal Engine, but DOES seem to claim that all Epic Games software will be banned. Per Epic Game's claims this week, Apple "cut off Epic's access to all development tools necessary to create software for Apple's platforms-including for the Unreal Engine Epic offers to third-party developers, which Apple has never claimed violated any Apple policy."

Per the Epic Games claim this week, "not content to simply remove Fortnite from the App Store, Apple is attacking Epic's entire business in unrelated areas." Epic Games maintains that they'll "likely succeed" on the merit of their claims against Apple, but without an injunction on the matter, Epic will be "irreparably harmed long before final judgement comes."

Per a note from Epic Games today, the matter could be more massive than just removing Epic Games software from Apple products.

"Apple specifically stated it would terminate Epic's access to development tools, including those nececessary for Epic to keep offering... the Unreal Engine." Epic went on to note that Unreal is used to develop "a wide array of products including games, films, biomedical research and virtual reality."

Epic also claims Apple warned that they'd be blocking "engineering efforts to improve hardware and software performance of Unreal Engine on Mac and iOS hardware [and] optimize Unreal Engine for the Mac for creative workflows."

Epic also showed cause for the damage to which the game Fortnite would be subject should the game remain banned from the App Store. All iOS players of the game would be "doomed to obsolescence" in very short order, as the all-online multiplayer game is constantly changing.

"Content and challenges also evolve; for example, the current Battle Royale season flooded the island map and introduced rideable sharks," wrote an Epic Games representative. "A player stranded on an old version of the island cannot play with those whose games have been updated; an island cannot simultaneously be submerged and dry."

Stick around as we continue to follow this series of cases and Epic Games and Apple throw down on the software field of battle. This isn't over by a long shot.