It’s almost more than a year between the legal fight between Apple and Epic Games, it looks like things tipped in the favour of the final when a federal judge former this month allotted a permanent ban allowing iOS developers to direct users to third-party payment gateways. Nut today Epic Games CEO Tim Sweeney clearly said that Apple informed the company that Fortnite will be blacklisted until everything will resolve in court.
Sweeney’s statement on Ban Fortnite from App Store
According to the Sweeney’s Twitter-
“Apple spent a year telling the world, in the court, and the press they had welcome Epic’s return to the App Store if they agree to play by the same rules as everyone else. At that time Epic was agreed and now Apple has defaulted in another abuse of its monopoly supremacy over a billion users.”
After that Sweeney went on to comprise screen shorts of an email sent to Phil Schiller, who usually heads up the Apple events and App Store. That email was sent on 16th September 2021 and in it, Sweeney cleanly mentioned that Apple has disabled payments server-side and paid Apple a total of $6 million as ordered by the court. Further, he added that Epic has requested Apple to reactivate its development account which was later on terminated by Apple last year and guaranteed Schiller that the firm would strictly follow the Apple guidelines.
“Epic will again submit Fortnite to the App Store if you adhere to the simple language of the court order and allow apps to include buttons and other external links that can easily direct customers to another purchasing platform without difficult terms or barriers to a good user experience.” Sweeny wrote this email, mentioning to the ban issued earlier this month.
Again Sweeney posted another screencap of a letter from Apple’s legal team. In it, Apple clearly mentioned that Epic’s developer account had been dismissed because of the intentional breach of contract. It goes on to quote Sweeney’s earlier public announcements saying Epic wouldn’t trade other payments just to get Fortnite back on the App Store.
“Since the court’s decision and other statements, coupled with Epic’s double-dealing manner in the past. Apple has trained its decision not to return Epic’s developer program account at this time” the letter delivers. Also, Apple will not consider any additional requests for reestablishment until the district court’s judgement becomes final and not again appealable.
It is clear that there is no such strong bonding between these two companies. This is not the first time Epic has tried to get Fortnite restored. Last year, it requested the court to put Fortnite back in the App Store while its legal fights with Apple were continuing which did not finish out well for Epic, as the court found Apple’s decision to ban the account was legal, legal and enforceable.
Though the court’s order did not say that Apple has to reinstate the Fortnite app. In his email to Schiller, Sweeney also gave a statement: “Whether Epics chooses to bring Fortnite back to iOS consumers depends on whether and where Apple updates its guidelines to deliver for a level playing field in between Apple In-App Purchase and other third party payment gateways”. That line, as well as the legal team statement of Apple “duplicitous conduct in the past”, is maybe a hint that the firm is cautious of Epic’s tendency for showmanship should it let Fortnite back into the App Store.
So don’t expect Fortnite to reappearance to the iOS App Store, or any part of the Apple ecosystem. There is no chance of sooner or later at least not until the entire legal process has been completed. According to Sweeney, that could take long years.
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