Tim Sweeney says the UK's mobile app store regulation lags “well behind” other countries, and calls the CMA delaying its iPhone sideloading decision a “blunder”
Competition and Markets Authority delayed decision over fees Apple and Google charge developers Forums: Slashdot Forums: Msmash / Slashdot : UK is Lagging Behind Rest of World in Tackling Big Tech, Says Fortnite Chief
Context & Ripple Effects
The CMA had already identified Apple and Google’s “vice-like grip” on mobile ecosystems in its 2021 interim findings, then moved to investigate App Store and browser restrictions. That history makes the delayed decision a test of whether those concerns translate into enforceable changes.
The UK’s pace is being judged against a more interventionist European path, where Apple was preparing a separate App Store approach for the EU. Sweeney’s criticism keeps attention on whether UK rules will materially alter developer access and payment choices.
First-order effects
- Apple and Google developers remain without a CMA decision on the fees at issue, prolonging uncertainty over the commercial terms for reaching mobile users.
- Apple’s iPhone sideloading position faces continued public and regulatory scrutiny, while Epic gains another forum to press its argument that existing platform terms are inadequate.
Second-order effects
- A longer decision process can leave UK developers operating under different constraints from markets where platform-access rules have moved sooner, complicating product and payment planning.
- The delay raises pressure on the CMA to show that its mobile-platform work can produce remedies on fees, steering, or distribution rather than only extend investigations.
Third-order effects
- If UK enforcement continues to trail comparable regimes, mobile platforms may increasingly manage compliance market by market instead of adopting one broadly uniform developer-access model.
- The episode illustrates the durable contest over Apple’s contested DMA fee structure: opening distribution channels does not settle whether the remaining economic terms preserve gatekeeper leverage.
The trend: Mobile-platform regulation is shifting from identifying gatekeeper power to testing whether remedies meaningfully change developer distribution and payment economics.