Apple Bans Fortnite Until All Options Are Exhausted

According to Bloomberg, Apple plans to keep Fortnite off of its shelf until appeals are exhausted in its legal fight with Epic Games, the maker of the popular battle-royale game.

Apple sent a letter to Epic last 22 September saying that it "will not consider any further requests for reinstatement until the district court’s judgment becomes final and nonappealable." The letter, sent to Epic’s lawyers from a firm representing Apple, was published on Twitter by Epic Chief Executive Officer Tim Sweeney. That process could take five years, he said.

Epic sued Apple in August 2020 after the iPhone maker removed Fortnite from its App Store, citing a workaround that circumvented Apple’s commission on purchases. The battle came to a head this month, with U.S. District Judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers mostly siding with Apple -- though she said the company should allow app developers to point users to outside payment systems. The ruling doesn’t take effect until early December, and Epic has already said it will appeal.

On 16 September 2021, Sweeney asked Phil Schiller, Apple’s executive in charge of the App Store, to reinstate Epic’s developer account. That would allow the future resubmission of Fortnite and let the gaming company develop its Unreal Engine and other software for Apple devices. "Epic promises that it will adhere to Apple’s guidelines whenever and wherever we release products on Apple’s platforms," Sweeney wrote in an email, which he published on Twitter.

Sweeney said that if Epic gets its developer account back, it plans to rerelease Fortnite for Mac computers "as soon as possible" and reincorporate Fortnite for iPhones and iPads into its Unreal Engine development process. He said, however, that the company would only rerelease Fortnite on Apple’s most popular products if Apple updates its review guidelines to match the "plain language" of the recent ruling.

While the judge's ruling clearly states that Apple can no longer ban developers from pointing users to the web to complete transactions -- bypassing the in-app-purchase system -- the ruling doesn’t state outright that Apple cannot collect its commissions. That has led some observers to believe that Apple could still take its cut of revenue via other means. In addition to Epic's appeal, Apple could choose to contest the ruling itself or seek a stay from the court to delay changes.