Microsoft General Manager Issues Statement About Ongoing Epic And Apple Legal Feud

Last week, we reported on Epic Games and Apple’s feud that started when the former attempted to bypass the latter’s 30% transaction fees with a direct payment method in Fortnite mobile. Apple responded by banning Epic from the App Store which then allowed Epic to file a lawsuit against Apple for monopolizing mobile app transactions. Apple then retaliated by blocking Epic’s access to dev tools and dev accounts which extended to all games running on the Unreal Engine.

With this move, it was just a matter of time before other gaming companies took sides, especially since Epic’s Unreal Engine is the engine of choice for most game developers. Microsoft is the first one to offer Epic their support with an official statement from General Manager for Gaming Developer Experiences Kevin Gammill.

“Because iOS is a large and growing market for games, Apple’s discontinuation of Unreal Engine’s ability to support iOS will be a material disadvantage for the Unreal Engine in future decisions by Microsoft and other game creators as to the choice of an engine for new games.

Even uncertainty about the Unreal Engine’s ability to continue supporting iOS and macOS will make it less likely for Microsoft (and, I believe, other game creators) to select Unreal Engine for their projects. When game creators are planning development projects, which can last for years, it is important to have confidence that the chosen engine will continue to be available on and support all platforms on which the game creators plan to distribute their games.

Apple’s discontinuation of Epic’s ability to develop and support Unreal Engine for iOS or macOS will harm game creators and gamers.”

With Microsoft already taking a side, it’s probably only a matter of time before other companies start voicing their opinions on the ongoing legal battle. In the meantime, we’d like to know your opinion on the matter. Hit us up in the comments section below.