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Apple wrote to Epic Games on Tuesday, stating that “it will not consider any further requests for restoration until the district court’s decision becomes final and unappealable.”
Apple plans to remove Fortnite from its App Store until the appeals in a legal battle with Epic Games Inc., the maker of the popular Battle Royale game, are exhausted.
Apple wrote to Epic on Tuesday, stating that “it will not consider any further requests for restoration until the district court’s decision becomes final and cannot be appealed.” Epic CEO Tim Sweeney (Tim Sweeney) on Twitter Published this letter sent to Epic’s lawyers by the company representing Apple. He said that this process may take five years.
After the iPhone maker removed Fortnite from its App Store, Epic sued Apple in August 2020, citing a solution to circumvent Apple’s purchase commission. The battle reached its peak this month, with U.S. Magistrate Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers mostly on Apple’s side-but she said the company should allow app developers to point users to External payment system. The ruling will not take effect until early December, and Epic has said it will appeal.
On September 16, Sweeney asked Phil Schiller, Apple’s executive in charge of the App Store, to restore Epic’s developer account. This will allow Fortnite to resubmit in the future and allow gaming companies to develop Unreal Engine and other software for Apple devices. “Epic promises that whenever and wherever we release a product on the Apple platform, it will follow Apple’s guidelines,” Sweeney wrote in an email, which he posted on Twitter on Wednesday.
Late last night, Apple notified Epic that Fortnite would be blacklisted from the Apple ecosystem until all court appeals were exhausted, which may take up to 5 years. pic.twitter.com/QCD7wogJef
— Tim Sweeney (@TimSweeneyEpic) September 22, 2021
Sweeney said that if Epic restores its developer account, it plans to re-release Fortnite for Mac computers “as soon as possible” and re-include Fortnite for iPhone and iPad in its Unreal Engine development process. However, he stated that if Apple updates its review guidelines to comply with the “simple language” of the recent ruling, the company will only re-release Fortnite on Apple’s most popular products.
Although the judge’s ruling clearly stated that Apple can no longer prohibit developers from directing users to the Internet to complete transactions—bypassing the in-app purchase system—but the ruling did not directly state that Apple cannot charge commissions. This makes some observers believe that Apple can still cut revenue in other ways.
In addition to Epic’s appeal, Apple can also choose to challenge the ruling itself or seek the court to suspend the ruling to postpone the change.
Mark Perry, an attorney representing Apple, said that due to Epic’s past “dual-face behavior” and Sweeney’s statement after the ruling, the company will not immediately restore the developer account.
Sweeney said at the time that the ruling was not a victory for developers or consumers.
Today’s ruling is not a victory for developers or consumers. Epic is fighting for fair competition between the in-app payment method of 1 billion consumers and the app store. https://t.co/cGTBxThnsP
— Tim Sweeney (@TimSweeneyEpic) September 10, 2021
After making this decision, Epic paid Apple $6 million to circumvent the company’s in-app purchase fees. During the trial period, Apple stated that if Epic follows the same App Store rules as other developers, it will restore Fortnite.
“Apple lied,” Sweeney said Wednesday. “Apple spent a year telling the world, courts, and the media that if they agree to follow the same rules as everyone else, they will’welcome Epic back to the App Store.'” Epic agreed, and now Apple has violated its right again. Monopoly power of 1 billion users. “
Sweeney said in an email to Schiller that even if Apple changes its rules to allow Fortnite to point users to the Internet to complete transactions, it still disputes Apple’s position that third-party app stores are prohibited.
Representatives of Epic and Apple declined to comment further.
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