Unreal Engine Games’ Future With Apple Is In Jeopardy

Games built in the Unreal Engine — one of the most widely used tools in the video-game industry — could start to disappear from Apple devices.

Epic Games Vs. Apple, Inc. (And Google)

When Epic Games introduced a new alternative payment method in Fortnite last week, Apple retaliated by removing the popular battle-royale game from its digital App Store. Epic countered the move with a lawsuit, declaring Apple a monopoly.

Google, which takes the same 30% cut of digital sales that Apple does, quickly followed Apple’s example and removed Fortnite from the Google Play shop.

So Epic filed another suit, again complaining of “monopolistic” business practices and asking not for money but for the court to intervene.

Unreal Engine On Apple Devices

On Monday, Epic said that “on Friday, August 28, Apple will terminate all our developer accounts and cut Epic off from iOS and Mac development tools.”

“An Epic Games spokeswoman [said] that without that access,” the Washington Post reports, “all future versions of Unreal Engine can’t be developed for iOS and Mac devices like iPhones and Macbooks. In turn, subsequent updates to iOS or Mac devices could make software running on Unreal Engine unusable.”

Epic has filed a motion asking the court to stop this from happening.

Consumers are already frustrated with Apple for banning services like Microsoft’s xCloud streaming platform, an extension of Game Pass that’s launching next month.

And Unreal powers so much more than Fortnite — games like Ark: Survival Evolved, Rocksteady’s Batman trilogy, Borderlands 3, Smite, the Gears of War series, PUBG, Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order, and tons more.

The way things stand right now, this feud with Epic could have a devastating effect on the future of video games across iPhones, Macbooks, and the rest of Apple’s product line.