Tim Sweeney, the CEO of Epic Games has now tweeted email conversations between them and Apple that have revealed Apple’s reluctance of allowing Epic to operate on the App Store again, despite saying that they would be willing to welcome Epic back to the App Store if they play by Apple’s rules. Fortnite continues to be blacklisted off the App Store amidst the ongoing feud.
Epic also paid Apple a hefty sum after being ordered by the court to do so for not adhering to Apple guidelines and breaching their contract. Epic Games has plans to bring back Fortnite to Mac and also reincorporate Fortnite for iOS using Unreal Engine once Apple reinstates their developer status and agrees to allow developers to include third-party purchasing mechanisms.
Apple decides not to cooperate, Fortnite remains blacklisted
Instead of doing as Epic requested, however, Apple has decided to “exercise its discretion” and not reinstate Epic’s developer account. They won’t be considering any further requests for the same till the district court reaches a final and non-appealable judgment, something that could take up to 5 years.
This seems like a pretty uncourteous move on Apple’s part but considering the fact that they would lose out on their 30% cut on purchases on the App Store due to the latest Epic vs. Apple lawsuit ruling that states that Apple should allow third-party purchase options on their App Store, it is pretty obvious that Apple would be bitter and not ready to cooperate with Epic.
Past developments in the Epic vs Apple story
This all started with Epic protesting against the 30% cut Apple takes and then rolling out their own payment service, a move that Apple didn’t take too kindly too and resulted in Fortnite being removed from iOS devices and banning Epic’s Developer Account- which in turn resulted in Epic suing Apple. Now Epic too stands to gain from having their account reinstated since Apple has over a billion active iPhone users and having Fortnite up and running on iOS devices would greatly increase Epic’s revenue.
All that being said, this was the latest development in the Epic vs Apple court battle and it shows how Apple really isn’t happy with all that’s happened so far. Epic, meanwhile, continues its campaign against Apple’s monopoly on its devices.
What are your thoughts on the ongoing Epic Games vs Apple case, and Fortnite being blacklisted off App Store? Let us know in the comments below!
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