Why Epic Says Apple’s EU App-Store Fixes Still Fail

They applauded in Brussels. Epic is not applauding. Apple rewrote parts of its app-store rulebook to satisfy regulators, but the Fortnite developer says those edits miss the law’s point.

Not a tidy compromise

The European Commission publicly welcomed Apple’s updates, pointing to months of back-and-forth after a non-compliance decision in April 2025. Apple removed what had been called a Core Technology Fee and expanded who can run third-party stores on iOS. On paper, it looks like progress.

Yet Epic fired back on X. The company argues the Digital Markets Act requires developers to be able to point users to web-based purchases free of charge and to make competing stores actually usable. Apple, Epic says, has simply traded one friction for another: a new 5% Core Technology Commission on third-party stores and continued charges of 10% or 15% for payments routed from linked web pages, depending on the payment processor. Small percentages for some. Big consequences for many.

Epic has already tested the waters. The firm released an Epic Games Store app for iOS in markets where Apple must legally allow alternatives—Europe, Japan and Brazil. On Android, Epic’s legal pressure helped push Google to alter Play Store fees and the sideloading experience. The Android Epic Games Store exists, but for now it’s distributed as a web download.

So the scene is set: legal skirmishes, policy interpretations, and competing visions of how an open mobile ecosystem should work. Regulators must choose whether to continue enforcement or accept Apple’s revisions. Developers are watching closely. Users will ultimately feel the result in price and choice.

If regulators accept these terms without securing truly cost-free link-outs and the effective operation of rival stores, the Digital Markets Act risks becoming a hollow promise rather than a real win for consumers and developers.