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Apple never threatened the developmental licenses of anyone using the Unreal Engine. They said they would remove all Epic access to developer program tools (e.g
by dwaite 6y ago
Apple never threatened the developmental licenses of anyone using the Unreal Engine. They said they would remove all Epic access to developer program tools (e.g. beta access to operating systems and Xcode) and to partner programs (presumably for advance hardware testing).
This would have a second-hand effect on Epic's ability to provide timely updates to their engine and remain competitive to alternatives like Unreal on the platform. It also would likely lead to a lot of problems with Epic's Game Store on Mac no longer being properly signed.
- sfifs 6y agoIt was foolish for Apple to retaliate IMO. I think this example will be used in multiple litigations to paint a picture for jury that Apple operates in bad faith and anti-competitively. I am also certain Steve Jobs emails from the eBook trial fiasco will be coming up. Apple is likely going down if this goes to trial. Their best interests lie in settling before trial but it doesn't seem Epic is looking to settle.
- fomine3 6y agoI'm very curious why very smart law team in Apple allows banning Epic's account. This action would works bad for antitrust lawsuit.
- causality0 6y agoThey threatened the supply chain. Would they do that to a normal developer? If you're a developer and one of your apps is found to violate an app store rule does Apple remove not only that app but also all your developer credentials and licenses? I imagine Apple just removes that app do they not?
- misnome 6y agoNot for normal violations, but in cases where developers have deliberately snuck in stuff against the rules they’ve banned accounts before.
- jimmydorry 6y agoMost developers just get that app removed (unless they egregiously operated in bad faith). If they then sued Apple, you bet they would get their account suspended in the mean-time too.
- smiley1437 6y agoI was fortunate enough to watch the Zoom of the hearing - the Apple lawyer claimed that in cases of breach, it is normal for Apple to disable all related developer accounts to limit the offender's ability to 'hide' behind alternate accounts. In this case, the two accounts in question (the one for Fortnite and the one for Unreal engine), while on paper are separate entities, were paid for by the same person, using the same credit card number - so that was Apple's justification for removing both. As the order shows, the judge still felt it was overreach.