Apple Set to Sever Epic Games Developer Access Later This Month
Apple plans to terminate Epic Games' developer accounts on August 28 amid an ongoing App Store dispute. The move threatens to cut off third-party developers from tools needed to create software using the Unreal Engine.
Apple plans to terminate Epic Games' entire access to the App Store and development tools on August 28. The company tells Epic that this deadline includes the loss of all tools necessary to create software for Apple platforms, which impacts the Unreal Engine that Epic offers to third-party developers. Apple states that Epic violates its Developer Program License Agreement and must cure these violations within 14 days to avoid termination.
In response to this threat, Epic files a court order asking a Northern California court to stop Apple from removing its App Store access. Epic points out that Apple never claims the Unreal Engine itself violates any Apple policy. Cutting off Epic's access to Mac and iOS developer tools negatively impacts all of the apps and games that rely on the Unreal Engine.
If Apple terminates the account, Epic loses access to a wide range of critical resources. These lost capabilities include all Apple software, SDKs, APIs, developer tools, pre-release operating systems, the TestFlight beta testing platform, and the ability to enable Apple services in-app like Apple Pay and Sign in with Apple. Apple indicates that Epic simply needs to follow App Store guidelines to keep its developer access intact.