Fortnite Blacklisted by Apple; Tim Sweeney Protests
Fortnite won't be returning to Apple devices anytime soon, maybe even for the next few years. Apple has blacklisted the title, as Epic Games' Tim Sweeney reported with regret.
The court hearings in the case between Apple and Epic Games may be over, but that's not the end of the legal battle between the companies. Not only the California court's order will come into force in December, but both companies still don't consider the case as settled. Tim Sweeney has already announced an appeal against the ruling. In response, Apple informed Epic Games CEO that not only will it not lift the blockade of his company's developer account in the App Store, but it also does not intend to consider appeals to change this decision until the verdict of the Californian court becomes "final and irrevocable".
The decision was reported by Tim Sweeney himself on Twitter, and the authenticity of the attached document was confirmed by Reuters. In the post, Epic Games CEO states that Apple "lied" to everyone and reneged on its promise to bring his company back to the App Store if Epic Games agreed to being treated the same as other developers:
"Apple lied. Apple spent a year telling the world, the court, and the press they’d "welcome Epic’s return to the App Store if they agree to play by the same rules as everyone else". Epic agreed, and now Apple has reneged in another abuse of its monopoly power over a billion users."
Sweeney points out that in practice, Apple's decision means that Epic Games can return to the App Store only in 5 years. It's not surprising, however, that the owner of iOS is not eager to forgive Sweeney's company after - as the Californian court found - unlawfully breaking the rules of Apple's platform. Especially when the creators of Fortnite announce an appeal against the verdict, which will undoubtedly result in further hearings.
