Microsoft Defends Fortnite Maker in Apple Fight

Microsoft came to the defense of video game developer Fortnite on Sunday, arguing in a legal case that Apple's efforts to shut off the company's development resources will harm many game developers and gamers as well.

Epic Games is embroiled in a court dispute with Apple after seeking to stop royalty fees owed to the software company, causing the iPhone manufacturer to take Fortnite out of its online shop, reports AFP.

Apple has threatened to slash Epic's exposure to the development resources used to sustain "Unreal Engine," a tech engine created by Epic and used by other computer game developers to produce graphics.

In a filing to the California court handling the case between Epic and Apple, a Microsoft manager said Unreal Engine “is critical technology for numerous game creators including Microsoft”.

“Apple’s discontinuation of Epic’s ability to develop and support Unreal Engine for iOS or macOS will harm game creators and gamers,” wrote Kevin Gammill, Microsoft’s general manager of gaming developer experiences.

Apple has alleged that the developer of Fortnite expects to forfeit access to development resources because it broke the conditions of the deal.

The 30 percent that Apple collects from the sales created by businesses to sell their applications across its web store is at the center of the battle.

Epic Games lodged a complaint against Apple last week after the software company pulled Fortnite off the App Store to deliver an upgrade that prevents revenue share.

The new update features a payment mechanism that enables player purchases to be bypassed by the App Store, stopping Cupertino-based Apple from taking a usual 30 percent share.

Epic has asked a judge to make Apple put Fortnite back in the App Store until the matter is resolved in court.