Apple will disable Sign in with Apple from Epic Games Store accounts

Apple believes that it is not enough to remove Fortnite from the App Store and disable the Epic Games developer account, so now it will also disable the ability to log in to the Epic Games website and the Epic Games Store with an Apple ID account. The Sign In With Apple option on Epic services will be deactivated starting tomorrow, September 11, which will affect especially those who depend on this authentication method, as they could lose their accounts.

Apple and Epic customers are caught in the middle of the conflict between the two companies

Of course, this decision was not made separately from Apple’s conflict with Epic. Since the Epic Games software developer account has been revoked, all other related features will also be disabled. Epic has managed to persuade a judge to ban Apple from blocking access to the software SDK for Unreal Engine, but anything to do with video game distribution remains on the outside.

Thus, the possibility of authentication with an Apple account on the Epic store and in its games, will disappear. Epic Games encourages customers who depend on this authentication method to exchange it with one of the available alternatives. It appears that Epic may be able to recover the accounts of those who do not do so by September 11, but the process does not have a guaranteed success rate.

Although Apple is the company that actually takes these actions, which are apparently in accordance with the rules of use of the App Store, Epic Games is the company that started this whole situation. And the customers of both companies are caught in the middle, without a word to say and without too many alternatives. Epic Games accounts, required to access Fortnite, store all in-game progress and all customers’ digital purchases, and they are now at risk of losing all of those purchases.

After Epic Games sued Apple and Apple responded with the same currency, for violating the provisions of the contract between the two companies. However, this fight seems to be just beginning, as the confrontations in court could last for several years from now. Curiously, however, Epic Games chose to make these decisions despite having over 60 million active players on Fortnite on iOS, being by far the largest platform on which the game was available.