Tim Sweeney, CEO of Epic Games, declared on July 30, 2026 that Apple employs lobbyists in Washington with the aim of weakening relations between Brazil and the United States. This action would come after the Administrative Council for Economic Defense (Cade) demanded that the technology giant allow third-party virtual stores on its iPhones.
The founder of the company responsible for the well-known game “Fortnite” stated that Apple seeks to “destroy good relations between our countries to preserve its ability to continue violating the law and charging illegal fees.” The statement was made during an online press conference aimed at journalists in Brazil.
In response, Apple denied Sweeney and Epic Games’ claims, classifying them as false. The company said it maintains its support for Brazilian developers and mentioned an agreement with Cade that provides for lower commissions and the acceptance of different payment methods and distribution channels for applications. The company also reported that it collaborates with regulatory authorities in Brazil to protect the security of the digital environment.
Sweeney reiterated that “Apple is violating the law in Brazil”, and that its supporters in the American government, mainly in the office of the United States Trade Representative (USTR), “are constantly threatening all these important international partners”.
The USTR, which acts as a United States government agency, was responsible for proposing to then-President Donald Trump the imposition of the last two rounds of tariffs on Brazilian goods, which could reach 37.5%. One of these measures, implemented on July 22, 2026, was justified by the supposed penalization of Brazilian commercial practices linked to e-commerce and payment processing, revealing how corporate disputes can directly influence national economic policy.
“This is very worrying and represents a threat to democracy in the United States, Brazil and Europe,” Sweeney said. He criticized Apple for acting “extremely brazenly and without any embarrassment”, and expressed the hope that “one day, it will be held accountable. It is shameful that an American company would interfere with good international relations in this way”.
Epic Games is involved in an extensive legal dispute with Apple, both in the United States and with international regulatory bodies. The objective is to challenge fees considered excessive in Apple’s app store and ensure that the operating system on its devices is accessible to competitors.
Based on Cade’s December 2025 decision, Epic Games opened its own app sales platform for iPhones on July 30, 2026. Despite this, Sweeney alleges that Apple continues to create a series of illegal barriers, preventing fair competition.
Among the actions taken by Apple are several fees applied to transactions carried out outside the App Store. According to the CEO of Epic Games, the company charges a 21% commission on purchases that use external payment systems, 15% on online purchases initiated through an iOS application, and 5% on revenue from any virtual store installed on its devices.
Sweeney commented that “common payment services charge 2% or 3% fees. That’s the real cost of processing payments. Apple more than doubles that and charges a fee without doing anything at all.”
Epic Games points out that installing an application on Apple devices in Brazil requires nine steps, while in Europe, the European Digital Markets Act simplified the process to six steps. In the National Congress, similar legislation is under analysis, facing strong opposition from large technology companies.
Sweeney stated that “Apple has the best interface designers in the world. When it wants to create a great interface, it does so with enormous success. So when you see Apple create a bad interface, you know that it is intentional and that it serves the company’s business interests rather than any legitimate reason.”
An additional point of criticism raised by the executive is the impossibility of installing the Epic Games virtual store application on iPads. He explained that Apple applied a similar block in the European market, but was compelled to authorize third-party stores on these devices.
The Epic Games virtual store was launched for iOS devices in Brazil with only two titles available: “Rocket League Sideswipe” and “Fortnite”, both created by Epic itself. According to Sweeney, the lack of games from other developers is yet another consequence of Apple’s strategies to stifle competition.
“Apple requires developers to install a type of ‘spyware’ [spy program], which sends back to the company all information about commercial transactions carried out in third-party stores,” said Sweeney. He detailed that “integrating this ‘spyware’ into the app takes a lot of work, so many developers simply don’t want to do it. Second, many have a moral objection to allowing Apple to monitor transactions between them and their customers.”
The iPhone maker argues that the description “spyware” is inaccurate. The company explains that it requests detailed sales reports to calculate payments due for the use of its technologies in third-party transactions. This requirement applies to both applications from the official store and those distributed through other means.
The executive indicated that Epic Games will activate Cade again, seeking to remove the impediments that Apple imposes on third-party application stores, considering such actions as anti-competitive.
The Epic Games Store already operates globally on Android devices. On devices with the iOS system, its presence is restricted to Europe, Japan and, now, Brazil — regions where regulatory bodies forced Apple to open its operating system to the installation of third-party stores.
The company reported that, despite all the obstacles, the Epic Games Store reached 50 million installations on mobile devices since it was launched.
