Epic Widens Fortnite Access Dispute With Apple, Google in U.K.

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The Epic Games Inc. Fortnite:
The Epic Games Inc. Fortnite: Battle Royale video game is displayed for a photograph on an Apple Inc. iPhone in Washington, D.C., U.S., on Thursday, May 10, 2018. Fortnite, the hit game that's denting the stock prices of video-game makers after signing up 45 million players, didn't really take off until it became free and a free-for-all. Photographer: Andrew Harrer/Bloomberg

(Bloomberg) -- Epic Games Inc. widened its dispute with Apple Inc. over access to its popular Fortnite video game as it submitted a complaint to the U.K.’s antitrust tribunal.

The company said Apple’s decision to remove the game from the iPhone maker’s App Store was unlawful. The move came after the games maker sought to offer in-app purchases without using Apple’s digital payments service. The complaint, alongside a similar one against Alphabet Inc.’s Google, was made public by the Competition Appeal Tribunal Thursday.

Apple has abused its “dominant position,” Epic said, according to the filing.

The move marks the first step by the company to get Apple to reinstate the battle royale video game in the British App Store. Epic launched a payment system that circumvented the Apple App store, meaning that the iPhone maker didn’t get a cut.

Epic didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment.

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