Epic Games boss slams Apple for controversial, poorly-designed DMA App Store solution

Tim Sweeney, Epic Games founder and CEO, has shared his two cents on Apple’s recent controversial DMA App Store solution to comply with European lawmakers.

Earlier, we reported (via Financial Times) that the Cupertino tech firm will soon allow European users to download apps from alternative app stores, but its plan to open up its App Store comes with mixed reactions. Despite “tens of thousands of hours” spent by hundreds of developers, Meta and Microsoft cry foul.

The two DMA gatekeepers raise concerns about uneven competition, while developers face a complex choice between Apple’s familiar (but costly) platform and unknown (potentially cheaper) alternatives.

Sweeney then blasts Apple’s “awful” new App Store features in Europe, calling them “premeditated” and blaming executives for forcing them on designers. He contrasts this with Apple’s Mac security, which they promote heavily, and argues they need a “complete reset” in their relationships with regulators and developers.

“So when Apple releases software with an awful user interface, you know it is premeditated, dictated to the design team by executives, and hated by the good creatives and engineers forced to build it,” he says while retweeting our report.

“They can’t go on like this, not as a self-respecting company that’s honest with itself and the world,” he continues.

Developers in Europe get a choice: use Apple’s App Store with existing fees or switch to alternative stores with a lower 17% commission. But there’s a catch: popular apps (over 1 million downloads) face an additional €0.50 fee per download outside the App Store.