Microsoft backs Epic against Apple in legal fight over Unreal Engine on iOS

Enlarge / Fortnite seen in the App Store on an iPhone on May 10, 2018. (credit: Andrew Harrer | Bloomberg | Getty Images)

In court documents that surfaced this weekend, Microsoft offered its support for Epic Games in the Unreal Engine-maker's quickly unfolding legal battle with Apple over access to the iOS app marketplace.

The legal declaration from Microsoft Gaming Developer Experiences General Manager Kevin Gammill comes in response to Apple's threat to halt Epic's access to software development tools used to update its popular Unreal Engine for use on iOS. That threat itself came after Epic tried to use its own payment system in the iOS version of Fortnite to get around Apple's 30-percent platform fee. That move quickly got the game pulled from the Apple App Store and led Epic to file a lawsuit in response.

Gammill says that any move harming development of Epic's Unreal Engine on iOS would hurt Microsoft's business, because "in Microsoft's view there are very few other options available for creators to license with as many features and as much functionality as Unreal Engine across multiple platforms, including iOS."

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