Apple loses sideloading lawsuit in Brazil, "Fortnite" is coming
The government in Brasilia wants to regulate Apple in a similar way to the EU Commission. Epic Games is ready to bring "Fortnite" back to the iPhone here too.
"Fortnite" is one of Epic's top games.
(Image: dpa, Herwin Bahar/ZUMA Wire/dpa)
Epic Games has announced that it will bring the shooter “Fortnite” back to Apple phones in Brazil. The reason for this is the fact that the government in the country – is forcing Apple to allow sideloading, similarly to the EU –. A few days ago, a court ruling ordered the company to open up its platform “within 90 days”.
CADE against Apple
As Epic Games writes on X, the Brazilian competition authority has now landed “a major court victory” against Apple. The CADE (Conselho Administrativo de Defesa Econômica) had sued the iPhone manufacturer. The games company now expects to bring “Fortnite” to devices by July. Exactly how this will happen remains unclear.
Videos by heise
The judge responsible, Pablo Zuniga, lifted a temporary injunction in Apple's favor, which would have given the company more time to implement sideloading in Brazil. He explicitly referred to approaches in other regions of the world, such as the EU. Apple is already implementing “similar obligations in other countries” without being able to demonstrate “significant impact or irreparable harm to its business model”. The EU with its Digital Markets Act (DMA) is explicitly regarded as a precedent here.
Epic's own app store apps?
It is now conceivable that Apple will have to allow its app store applications from competitors in Brazil, as it does in the EU – such as the Epic Games Store. In the EU, Apple made major changes to iOS and iPadOS for this purpose. However, installing such programs, including downloading and setting up the actual apps, is not easy. Apple is not allowed to influence the content of such programs, but will check for malware. Apple has been criticized by Epic Games and others because there are many warning messages during installation that could scare off users.
In Brazil, Apple was recently threatened with fines if the platform was not opened up to external payment methods – another point of criticism from Epic Games –. In the EU, the Commission is currently deciding how much money the company will have to pay for possible DMA violations.
Empfohlener redaktioneller Inhalt
Mit Ihrer Zustimmung wird hier ein externer Preisvergleich (heise Preisvergleich) geladen.
Ich bin damit einverstanden, dass mir externe Inhalte angezeigt werden. Damit können personenbezogene Daten an Drittplattformen (heise Preisvergleich) übermittelt werden. Mehr dazu in unserer Datenschutzerklärung.
(bsc)
