Microsoft has filed a statement in support of Epic's request for a temporary restraining order against Apple's plan to remove access to its iOS development tools. Gammill, Microsoft's General Manager of Game Developer Experience, stated in the statement filed that the Unreal Engine is "an important technology for many game creators" and that blocking Epic's support on iOS and MacOS would "harm game creators and gamers."

Epic filed this injunction last week in response to Apple's "disruptive" response to its lawsuit over alleged "monopolistic practices" in the iOS App Store: in addition to removing Fortnite, Apple announced on August 28 that all Epic developer accounts and Epic stated that it will not be able to support the Unreal Engine for iOS and MacOS while the case moves through the courts, forcing developers to move to other technologies and that even if it prevails, it will suffer "irreparable harm" as a result of this action. Even if they prevail, they will suffer "irreparable harm" as a result of this action.

Microsoft's declaration today reinforces this position by pointing out that many game developers, especially small independent studios, rely on third-party engines to create their games, Gammill states that few others can match its features and functionality across multiple platforms.

"Epic's denial of access to Apple's SDK and other development tools would prevent Epic from supporting the Unreal Engine on iOS and macOS, and has built games on the Unreal Engine and It would put game creators who have built, are building, or may build games on the Unreal Engine at a substantial disadvantage," said Gammill.

"Developing games using different game engines for different platforms can be prohibitively expensive and difficult. In any case, it is not as cost-effective as using a game engine that supports different platforms. Therefore, game creators, including Microsoft, who are preparing to develop games targeting multiple platforms generally choose game engines based on both the features they offer as well as their ability to support development for those platforms.

Projects in the middle of development face "significant costs and difficult decisions" as they are forced to choose between starting over with a different engine or risk the possibility of not being supported in the future. Gammill also notes that existing games would be negatively affected because developers would lose the ability to "take advantage of new features in iOS and macOS, fix software bugs, and fix security flaws."

The uncertain future of Unreal Engine support on iOS and MacOS alone is detrimental, as developers need to be confident that the underlying technology they choose for their projects will be viable and viable for the long term.

Apple has stated that any harm Epic may suffer is self-inflicted and should not be allowed because simply removing the patch that allows Fortnite to bypass Apple's payment processing system would immediately remedy the situation, and on August 21, Epic's Temporary filed a response to Epic's request for a temporary restraining order.