Apple might face EU antitrust probe as Microsoft, Facebook criticise App Store policies

Last week, Apple was the subject of criticism from the gaming industry shortly after Microsoft announced the end of its Project xCloud Testflight programme on iOS. The Xbox team pointed out that the App Store's policies made it difficult for game streaming services to get approval. Facebook echoed a similar sentiment when its gaming app was only certified after it removed access to its library of mobile games. Now, antitrust regulators from the European Union (EU) have confirmed plans to investigate this issue.

While U.S. lawmakers are yet to make their move against these allegations, the European Commission has taken the first steps to determine if the company has violated established guidelines. Arianna Podesta, a spokeswoman for the executive branch, stated: "The Commission is aware of these concerns regarding Apple's App Store rules." In fact, it has already launched several probes related to the reported unfair restrictions.

Meanwhile, the Russian Federal Antimonopoly Service (FAS) – a group that closely works with antitrust-related cases – has completed its investigation which lasted a year, according to Reuters. Its findings indicate that American tech firm has "abused its dominant position in the mobile app marketplace and will order Apple to resolve multiple regulatory breaches."

In addition to the strict policies it enforces on developers, it appears Apple also requires a 30-percent commission from sales of third-party apps. The Russian enquiry started after Kaspersky Lab filed a formal complaint when its Safe Kids app was rejected from the App Store. The reason behind the denial was allegedly due to the application purportedly putting the "user's safety and privacy at risk."

Sources claim that Apple did not want it to compete with its own parental control platform, which introduced similar functions to Safe Kids in version 12. These settings benefit parents who want to closely supervise their children's usage of supported devices such as tablets and smartphones.

With Facebook and Microsoft recently calling out Apple for its controversial App Store regulations, it will not be long before lawmakers look into the matter. The Redmond-based gaming company shared a statement: "Apple stands alone as the only general purpose platform to deny consumers from cloud gaming and game subscription services like Xbox Game Pass."