:strip_exif()/i/2004629026.jpeg?fit=%2C&ssl=1 "Apple continues to ban Fortnite from App Store until lawsuit is fully completed – Gaming – News")
Apple will continue to ban Fortnite from the App Store until the lawsuit between the company and Epic Games is finalized. Epic Games CEO Tim Sweeney reports this, who shares email correspondence between the two companies on Twitter.
The emails published by Sweeney indicate that Fortnite is unlikely to be available again for iOS devices in the coming years. “Late last night, Apple informed Epic that Fortnite will be blacklisted from the Apple ecosystem until all court appeals are exhausted, which could be a five-year process,” the Epic Games executive wrote. on Twitter.
In published emails, Apple’s attorneys report that the company will not reinstate Epic Games’ App Store developer account until the lawsuit is fully settled and the ruling is final. “Apple has exercised its authority not to restore Epic’s developer account at this time,” the email reads from Apple. “In addition, Apple will not consider further requests for reinstatement until the court’s ruling has become final and irrevocable.”
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A request from Epic Games to Apple (left) and Apple’s response. Images via Tim Sweeney on Twitter
According to Sweeney, this decision violates Apple’s promise to allow Epic Games to re-enter the App Store if the company promised to follow the terms of that app store. “Just last week, Epic agreed with Apple that we will abide by the same rules as other developers,” reports the Epic-ceo thereby. The Verge writes Apple declined to comment on Sweeney’s statements, but the company has not disputed the authenticity of the emails.
Apple removed Fortnite in August last year from the App Store, after Epic Games added its own payment method for in-app purchases to the iOS version of the game. With this, the developer wanted to circumvent the App Store commission of 30 percent that Apple charges for the App Store. Epic Games then sued Apple, after which the lawsuit started in May of this year.
Earlier this month, the court made a first statement, in which Judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers required Apple to allow developers to offer alternative payment methods. At the same time, the judge concluded that Apple does not have illegal monopoly power and that Epic Games committed a breach of contract last year because Apple was not yet obliged to allow alternative payment methods in App Store apps. That is why Epic still had to pay back the 30 percent commission that Apple missed out on Epic Games to the tech giant. The developer has already done that.
The judge also concluded in the ruling that Apple has the right to ban Epic accounts from its App Store after the company committed the breach of contract. Apple’s lawyers write in the published email that banning Epic from the App Store is in line with the court’s ruling.
Incidentally, this was only the first ruling in the lawsuit. Epic Games has already confirmed that it appeals against the ruling and Apple reports that it is currently considering an appeal. Tweakers wrote earlier this year a background article about the lawsuit between Apple and Epic Games and the story behind it.
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