Epic Games to lose Apple ID sign on for accounts
Users of Epic Games accounts will no longer be able to use Apple ID when signing into games such as Fortnite and Gears of War, Epic Games said on Wednesday.
Epic claims this is because Apple has banned users from using Apple ID to sign onto any Epic Games accounts, with the ban to take effect "as soon as September 11, 2020".
Due to this ban, Epic posted on its website that any Apple ID users will need to update their email addresses and passwords to ensure they can still log in.
Epic has since provided an update, stating on Thursday that Apple has provided an "indefinite extension" to log into the game from using Apple's sign-in system. In the update, Epic recommended that Apple ID users should still prepare to update their email address and passwords when the sign-in is eventually banned.
If Apple ID users are unable to update their accounts, Epic said users would be able to contact the company to manually recover accounts.
Apple's decision to ban Apple ID from being used for Epic Games accounts is the latest in a back and forth between the two companies that first began when Epic implemented an in-app payment system within Fortnite to circumvent paying a 30% commission fee to app marketplaces, such as the App Store and Google Play Store.
See also: Apple mercilessly mocked by Epic where it hurts
This led to Apple and Google both removing Fortnite from their respective marketplaces, citing that Epic breached its contract obligations for residing in these app marketplaces.
Epic then clapped back by filing a lawsuit against Apple and Google, accusing the tech giants of conducting anti-competitive and monopolistic practices due to their 30% commission fee structures.
"Apple has become what it once railed against: The behemoth seeking to control markets, block competition, and stifle innovation. Apple is bigger, more powerful, more entrenched, and more pernicious than the monopolists of yesteryear. At a market cap of nearly $2 trillion, Apple's size and reach far exceeds that of any technology monopolist in history," Epic said in the originating claim.
Since that lawsuit, Apple has terminated Epic's app developer account and raised its own lawsuit against Epic, accusing the game developer of attempting to pay nothing for the value it derives from being in the App Store.
"Epic's demands for special treatment and cries of 'retaliation' cannot be reconciled with its flagrant breach of contract and its own business practices, as it rakes in billions by taking commissions on game developers' sales and charging consumers up to $99.99 for bundles of 'V-Bucks'," Apple said in its counterclaim.
Meanwhile, Epic filed an injunction last Friday seeking to put Fortnite back into the App Store.
The next hearing for the Apple-Epic Games legal spat is set for later this month.
Update at 9:00am AEST, 11 September 2020: Epic provided update that Apple has provided an extension for users to still sign into Epic Games accounts with Apple ID.
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