Epic Games submits Apple complaint to UK watchdog

Epic Games on Tuesday filed a complaint about Apple to a British competition watchdog for their “monopolistic practices.”

The video game maker accuses Apple of anticompetitive behavior and establishing strict rules on app distribution and payments, which is a violation under British laws. 

The watchdog is already probing the tech giant for its stranglehold on the app market.

The complaint from Epic Games stems from Apple taking 30 percent of in-game purchases, a tactic that other streaming services like Spotify have also taken issue with.

“By kneecapping the competition and exerting its monopoly power over app distribution and payments, Apple strips U.K. consumers of the right to choose how and where they get their apps, while locking developers into a single marketplace that lets Apple charge any commission rate they choose,” said Epic Games CEO Tim Sweeney in a statement.  

Epic Games, the maker of the hugely popular game Fortnite, has been in a bitter legal battle with Apple after filing legal claims and an antitrust complaint against the company in the United States, Australia and the European Union.

Epic Games stated that it is not seeking monetary damages but wants to help regulators come up with fixes to prevent market distortion and manipulation. 

Apple told The Associated Press Epic Games owed much of its success to the App Store and now it “wants to operate under a different set of rules than the ones that apply to all other developers.”

The company said the result of allowing the gaming company different rules would be “weakened privacy and data security protections for our customers, and we think that’s wrong.”