Apple continues to ban Fortnite from the App Store until the lawsuit is fully concluded – Games – News

Apple will continue to ban Fortnite from the App Store until the lawsuit between the company and Epic Games is over. This was reported by Tim Sweeney, CEO of Epic Games, who shares email correspondence between the two companies on Twitter.

Emails posted by Sweeney indicate that it is unlikely that Fortnite will be available again for iOS devices in the coming years. “Late last night, Apple notified Epic that Fortnite will be blacklisted from the Apple ecosystem until all judicial appeals have been exhausted, which could take up to five years,” the Epic Games CEO wrote. on Twitter.

In the emails posted, Apple’s lawyers said the company will not reinstate Epic Games’ App Store developer account until the lawsuit is fully settled and the verdict is final. The email from Apple reads: “Apple has exercised its authority not to restore the Epic developer account at this time.” “In addition, Apple will not consider further requests to restore the status quo until the court’s ruling is final and irrevocable.”

Request from Epic Games to Apple (left) and Apple response. Photos 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 promises to follow the terms of that app store. “Just last week, Epic agreed with Apple that we would adhere to the same rules as other developers,” Epic CEO reports So. The Verge writes Apple declined to comment on Sweeney’s comments, but the company did not dispute 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 said, the developer wanted to circumvent the 30 percent App Store commission Apple charges the App Store. Then Epic Games filed a lawsuit against Apple, after which the lawsuit began in May of this year.

Earlier this month, the court made the first statementIn which Judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers asked Apple to allow developers to offer alternative payment methods. At the same time, the judge concluded that Apple had no unlawful monopoly and that Epic Games committed a breach of contract last year because Apple was not yet obligated to allow alternative payment methods in App Store apps. That’s why Epic still has to repay the 30 percent commission that Apple missed on the tech giant’s Epic Games. The developer has already done that.

The judge also concluded in the ruling that Apple had the right to ban Epic accounts from its App Store after the company committed a breach of contract. Apple’s lawyers wrote in the posted email that banning Epic from the App Store is permissible according to the court ruling.

By the way, this was only the first ruling in the lawsuit. Epic Games has already confirmed it pleas Against the ruling and Apple said it is currently considering an appeal. Tweakers wrote earlier this year Background article About the lawsuit between Apple and Epic Games and the story behind it.