Microsoft has chosen sides in the ongoing legal battle between Apple and “Fortnite” game developer Epic Games, filing a court statement Aug. 23 in support of Epic.
The Xbox owner filed paperwork backing Epic after Apple said it would remove Epic’s access to Apple’s developer tools by Aug. 28 — which means that developers using Epic’s proprietary game development software, the Unreal Engine, would be unable to work on Apple platforms.
Microsoft manager of game development experience Kevin Gammill said in a Sunday statement that several Microsoft games use the Unreal Engine to operate on iOS. Epic has been licensing the Unreal Engine to third-party game developers since 2009.
“Microsoft has an enterprise-wide, multi-year Unreal Engine license agreement and has invested significant resources and engineer time working with and customizing Unreal Engine for its own games on PC, Xbox consoles, and mobile devices (including iOS devices),” Gammill said in the statement, noting that ‘Forza Street’ is one title that uses the Unreal Engine on mobile.
“For example, Microsoft’s racing game ‘Forza Street’ is currently available on iOS and utilizes Unreal Engine. Denying Epic access to Apple’s SDK and other development tools will prevent Epic from supporting Unreal Engine on iOS and macOS, and will place Unreal Engine and those game creators that have built, are building, and may build games on it at a substantial disadvantage,” Gammill added.
“Even uncertainty about the Unreal Engine’s ability to continue supporting iOS and macOS will make it less likely for Microsoft (and, I believe, other game creators) to select Unreal Engine for their products,” Gammill said.
The legal battle between Apple and Epic Games kicked off Aug. 13 when Epic sued Apple for removing its most popular multiplayer game, “Fortnite,” off the App Store after “Fortnite” began offering a sale on in-game currency. If players purchased the in-game coins through Epic directly rather than the iOS marketplace, they saved roughly 20% — and Apple didn’t appreciate Epic violating its terms of service, so it booted “Fortnite from the store.
Google shortly followed suit and removed “Fortnite” from its Google Play Store. Epic then filed suit against Apple, claiming its payment policies and business practices were anti-competitive. Epic also filed a similar lawsuit against Google.
Epic faces an uphill battle in taking on Apple, the dominant marketplace in the world for mobile apps. But, Epic is also one of the only companies with enough leverage to get into this battle, and the massive global popularity of “Fortnite” is hard for Apple to ignore.
A representative for music streaming app Spotify said in a statement to TheWrap that it also supports Epic’s decision to sue Apple. Spotify has filed its own antitrust lawsuits against Apple and its music services.
“We applaud Epic Games’ decision to take a stand against Apple and shed further light on Apple’s abuse of its dominant position. Apple’s unfair practices have disadvantaged competitors and deprived consumers for far too long,” Spotify told TheWrap. “The stakes for consumers and app developers large and small couldn’t be higher and ensuring that the iOS platform operates competitively and fairly is an urgent task with far-reaching implications.”
Emmy Nomination Predictions 2020: All the Picks in 24 Top Categories (Photos)
For the first time in 42 years, the reigning drama and comedy series winners will not be in the running at this year's Emmys -- so here's who we think will be in line to take over from "Game of Thrones" and "Fleabag" as nominees in the top categories. You can also find more analysis on why we think these will be the nominees (and who could pull an upset) in drama, comedy, limited series/movies, and variety/reality programming.
Outstanding Drama Series: “Better Call Saul,” “The Crown,” “The Handmaid’s Tale,” “The Morning Show,” “Ozark,” “Pose,” “Succession” (pictured), “Westworld”
Outstanding Lead Actor in a Drama Series: Jason Bateman, “Ozark” (pictured); Sterling K. Brown, “This Is Us”; Brian Cox, “Succession”; Bob Odenkirk, “Better Call Saul”; Billy Porter, “Pose”; Jeremy Strong, “Succession”
Netflix
Outstanding Lead Actress in a Drama Series: Jennifer Aniston, “The Morning Show”; Olivia Colman, “The Crown”; Jodie Comer, “Killing Eve”; Laura Linney, “Ozark”; Elisabeth Moss, “The Handmaid’s Tale” (pictured); Sandra Oh, “Killing Eve”
Hulu
Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Drama Series: Jonathan Banks, “Better Call Saul”; Billy Crudup, “The Morning Show”; Kieran Culkin, “Succession”; David Harbour, “Stranger Things”; Josh O’Connor, “The Crown”; Tom Pelphrey, “Ozark”; Bradley Whitford, “The Handmaid’s Tale”; Jeffrey Wright, “Westworld” (pictured)
HBO
Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Drama Series: Helena Bonham Carter, “The Crown”; Laura Dern, “Big Little Lies”; Ann Dowd, “The Handmaid’s Tale”; Cynthia Erivo, “The Outsider”; Julia Garner, “Ozark”; Thandie Newton, “Westworld”; Rhea Seehorn, “Better Call Saul” (pictured) ; Meryl Streep, “Big Little Lies”
AMC
Outstanding Comedy Series: “Better Things,” “Curb Your Enthusiasm,” “Dead to Me,” “The Good Place,” “Insecure,” “The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel,” “Ramy,” “Schitt’s Creek” (pictured)
Outstanding Lead Actress in a Comedy Series: Pamela Adlon, “Better Things”; Christina Applegate, “Dead to Me”; Rachel Brosnahan, “The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel” (pictured); Linda Cardellini, “Dead to Me”; Issa Rae, “Insecure”; Catherine O’Hara, “Schitt’s Creek”
Amazon
Outstanding Lead Actor in a Comedy Series: Anthony Anderson, “black-ish”; Ted Danson, “The Good Place” (pictured); Larry David, “Curb Your Enthusiasm”; Michael Douglas, “The Kominsky Method”; Eugene Levy, “Schitt’s Creek”; Ramy Youssef, “Ramy”
NBC
Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series: Alex Borstein, “The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel”; D’Arcy Carden, “The Good Place”; Betty Gilpin, “GLOW”; Marin Hinkle, “The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel”; Jane Lynch, “The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel”; Kate McKinnon, “Saturday Night Live” (pictured); Annie Murphy, “Schitt’s Creek”; Yvonne Orji, “Insecure”
NBC
Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Comedy Series: Mahershala Ali, “Ramy” (pictured); Louie Anderson, “Baskets”; Alan Arkin, “The Kominsky Method”; Sterling K. Brown, “The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel”; Peter Gallagher, “Zoey’s Extraordinary Playlist”; Dan Levy, “Schitt’s Creek”; Tony Shalhoub, “The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel”; Kenan Thompson, “Saturday Night Live”
Outstanding Lead Actor in a Limited Series or Movie: Jeremy Irons, “Watchmen”; Hugh Jackman, “Bad Education”; Aaron Paul, “El Camino: A Breaking Bad Movie”; Paul Mescal, “Normal People” (pictured); Mark Ruffalo: “I Know This Much Is True”
Hulu
Outstanding Lead Actress in a Limited Series or Movie: Cate Blanchett, “Mrs. America”; Kaitlyn Dever, “Unbelievable” (pictured); Regina King, “Watchmen”; Kerry Washington, “Little Fires Everywhere”; Merritt Wever, “Unbelievable”
Netflix
Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Limited Series or Movie: Tituss Burgess, “Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt: Kimmy vs. the Reverend”; Darren Criss: “Hollywood”; Tim Blake Nelson, “Watchmen”; Jim Parsons, “Hollywood” (pictured); Jesse Plemons, “El Camino”; John Turturro, “The Plot Against America”
Netflix
Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Limited Series or Movie: Uzo Aduba, “Mrs. America”; Rose Byrne, “Mrs. America” (pictured); Toni Collette, “Unbelievable”; Margo Martindale, “Mrs. America”; Sarah Paulson, “Mrs. America”; Jean Smart, “Watchmen”
Hulu
Outstanding Variety Talk Series: “Full Frontal With Samantha Bee” (pictured), “Jimmy Kimmel Live!,” “Last Week Tonight With John Oliver,” “The Late Late Show With James Corden,” “The Late Show With Stephen Colbert”
Outstanding Variety Sketch Show: “At Home With Amy Sedaris,” “A Black Lady Sketch Show,” “Drunk History” (pictured), “Saturday Night Live”
Comedy Central
Outstanding Variety Special (Live): “Garth & Trisha Live!,” “Live in Front of a Studio Audience: ‘All in the Family’ and ‘Good Times’,” “The Oscars,” “Super Bowl LIV Halftime Show Starring Jennifer Lopez and Shakira” (pictured), “73rd Annual Tony Awards”
Getty
Outstanding Variety Special (Pre-Recorded): “Dave Chappelle: Sticks & Stones”; “Hannah Gadsby: Douglas” (pictured); “Homefest: James Corden’s Late Late Show Special”; “Jerry Seinfeld: 23 Hours to Kill”; “The Kennedy Center Honors”; “One World: Together at Home”
Outstanding Host for a Reality or Competition Program: Bobby Berk, Karamo Brown, Tan France, Antoni Porowski and Jonathan Van Ness, “Queer Eye” (pictured); Nicole Byer, “Nailed It”; Ellen DeGeneres, “Ellen’s Game of Games”; Jane Lynch, “Hollywood Game Night”; Amy Poehler & Nick Offerman, “Making It”; RuRaul, “RuPaul’s Drag Race”
Netflix
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Last year’s champs, “Game of Thrones” and “Fleabag,” are out of the running — so here’s who we think will be vying to occupy those empty thrones
For the first time in 42 years, the reigning drama and comedy series winners will not be in the running at this year's Emmys -- so here's who we think will be in line to take over from "Game of Thrones" and "Fleabag" as nominees in the top categories. You can also find more analysis on why we think these will be the nominees (and who could pull an upset) in drama, comedy, limited series/movies, and variety/reality programming.