The legal battle between Epic Games and Apple and Google that began in August 2020 has now reached the U.K. Epic has filed the same lawsuit against both companies with the Court of Competition Appeals as it did in the U.S. and Australia.

Although Epic, Apple, and Google are all companies incorporated in the US, the dispute extends to the UK as they also have companies registered in the UK and EU. The claim was filed late last year, but the notice was only published on January 14 (from Gamesindustry.biz).

Epic's claims against Apple and Google will be familiar to anyone who has been following the months-long dispute. The thing started when Apple and Google decided that Epic was not willing to add a direct payment option to the mobile version of Fortnite, prompting Apple and Google to remove the game from their game stores.

Apple and Google claimed that Epic knowingly broke the rules, and Epic claimed that its dominance in the mobile market was anti-competitive; Epic ridiculed one of Apple's older add-ons, mostly by leveraging its very young fan base, It announced that it would sue Apple. There are merchandise, skins, and of course, Fortnite tournaments.

Epic is hoping that along with the removal of Fortnite from the App Store and Play Store, a court will make a declaration that certain provisions of the Developer Program License Agreement (DPLA) it has with Apple are illegal. We are asking for Fortnite to be reinstated and for Apple to stop restricting downloads of the Epic Games Store and Epic's apps. It also seeks an order preventing Google from insisting that the Play Store be pre-installed on Android devices and that it be given preferential treatment compared to other app stores.

On January 21, Epic appears in court and seeks no damages. From the beginning, Epic and CEO Tim Sweeney have portrayed the dispute as a David and Goliath battle, in which Epic only wants to improve the mobile ecosystem and not simply increase revenue. Of course, Epic is no David; it was worth about $17 billion last year.

In the U.S., things are further along, with the actual Epic v. Apple trial scheduled for May. In the meantime, Apple has been ordered to leave Unreal Engine and Epic's subsidiaries alone; in October, a temporary restraining order was upgraded, preventing Apple from retaliating against Epic's affiliates pending the outcome of the case.