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MagyarApple rejects Epic Games Store notarization submission for the second time
Fortnite creator Epic Games has encountered another challenge on the road to bringing the Epic Games Store to the EU. Although the Digital Markets Act, or DMA, passed a law that would open up alternative app stores very recently in the EU. Yet again, Apple has rejected Epic Games' submission for bringing the Epic Games Store to iOS in Europe. This is the second rejection from Apple because the Epic Games Store mirrors the structure of the Apple App Store way too much.
According to Epic Games, Apple went to the extent of clearly pointing out the reasons why this app was rejected. For instance, Apple indicated a disapproval of the fact that the “Install” button for this game was rather close to their “Get” button. The other problem they cited was that the “in-app purchase” labeling was way too similar. Epic Games insisted that these design choices were in line with the industry standards commonly used across other app store platforms.
1/3 Apple has rejected our Epic Games Store notarization submission twice now, claiming the design and position of 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.
— Epic Games Newsroom (@EpicNewsroom) July 5, 2024
Epic Games has slammed what it claims to be an arbitrary and unfair rejection on Apple's part. In a public statement, Epic Games denigrated Apple's actions as obstructive and in contravention of the DMA. It has submitted its grievances to the European Commission for redress over what it considers to be foul play by Apple.
Apple responded, saying that it was actually trying to help Epic Games get through the approval process of its marketplace. Apple claims that, under Section 2.3 (G) of the developer agreement, Epic Games is contractually obligated to not bring an app store-consumable marketplace into creation. Although Apple does acknowledge that Epic Games has, for the most part, operated in compliance with this provision, it is of the view that such discrepancies in design and language, like the download button. They must be corrected before approval can be given.
While rejecting the submission of Epic Games Store, Apple has granted approval to have Epic Games' Fortnite distributed on iOS. However, the approval for Fortnite does not apply to the Epic Games Store itself, and a standoff brews between these tech giants.
