Microsoft Backs Epic Games' Lawsuit Versus Apple Over Development Tools

Count Microsoft as one of the entities siding with Epic Games in its legal battle against decades-old rival Apple.

Microsoft executive vice-president for Gaming Phil Spencer tweeted on Microsoft’s behalf to show support for Epic Games’ request to keep access to Apple iOS and Mac development tools while their suit over payment practices in “Fortnite” is ongoing, ScreenRant reports.

After Epic Games bypassed Apple’s 30% in-game fees by changing their in-app payments for V-bucks in “Fortnite,” Apple charged that the former broke app store policies and breached their contract. Apple then completely took “Fortnite” off the app store.

Epic Games, however, was prepared with their suit against Apple’s “monopolistic” practices by quickly posting online their parody of Apple’s classic “1984” ad directed by Ridley Scott.

However, Apple has since announced that Epic will lose access to all of their Mac and IOS development tools on August 28, which will not just affect “Fortnite,” but also their very popular and widely used Unreal Engine.

Epic Games has claimed that losing those tools would cause irreparable harm to it and the Unreal Engine, even if only for the duration of their initial lawsuit.

On Twitter, Phil Spencer showed support for Epic Games via a legal document from Microsoft General Manager of Gaming Developer Experiences Kevin Gammill. The document expresses Microsoft’s support of Epic Games’ motion to maintain access to Apple development tools while the lawsuit is ongoing.

The document also reaffirms to the court how important the Unreal Engine is to Microsoft and many other developers. It also effectively backs Epic Games’ claim that losing the developer tools during the suit would cause irreparable harm to the business.

"If Unreal Engine cannot support games for iOS or macOS, Microsoft would be required to choose between abandoning its customers and potential customers on the iOS and macOS platforms or choosing a different game engine when preparing to develop new games," the document stated.

The declaration also touches on how the loss of the Unreal Engine would hurt all the apps on IOS or Mac that use the engine and would cause those companies irreparable harm when they could no longer update or change their games.

Although this could spell a potentially huge win for Epic Games with one of the largest companies in the world backing their claim of irreparable harm, it does not necessarily mean that Microsoft supports their initial grievances over payment practices.

The only reason Microsoft joined in this argument was likely because it involved developer tools.