Fortnite blacklisted from Apple Store, says Epic Games CEO



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Following a decision by Fortnite Epic Games creator lawsuit against Apple, Epic CEO Tim Sweeney said Apple will blacklist Fortnite of its ecosystem until its appeals process renders the final judgment.

“Apple lied” Sweeney said on Twitter. “Apple spent a year telling the world, the court, and the press that they ‘would welcome the return of Epic to the App Store if they agreed to play by the same rules as everyone else.’ Epic agreed, and now Apple has given up on yet another abuse of its monopoly power over a billion users.

Sweeney said Apple’s move could keep Fortnite off iOS and Mac platforms for five years as the appeal process unfolds.

Although Epic Games has appealed the court ruling in the Apple case, Sweeney has promised that Epic Games will “follow Apple’s guidelines” if the company recovers its developer account. (The account, which allows developers to access Apple tools, was suspended last year, which sparked the lawsuit.) Sweeney tweeted on Wednesday that Apple declined the Developer Program’s request to reinstate the account. .

“In light of this and other statements since the court ruling, coupled with Epic’s deceptive conduct in the past, Apple has exercised its discretion not to reinstate Epic’s development program at this time.” Apple attorney Mark A. Perry wrote in an email to Epic. posted by Sweeney. “In addition, Apple will not consider any further reinstatement applications until the district court’s judgment becomes final and without appeal.”

An Epic Games representative told Polygon he had no further comment. We also contacted Apple for more information.

On September 10, Judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers of the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California issued a permanent injunction requiring Apple to allow App Store developers to push their users to third-party payment systems. While this was only a small part of the lawsuit, it was a victory for developers interested in bypassing App Store terms that give Apple a 30% cut in sales. through the store. Apple, however, also claimed victory in the lawsuit: the judge declared that Apple did not have an illegal monopoly on “mobile game transactions”.

Epic will also pay Apple a portion of the Fortnite income he earned as a result of the decision that triggered the trial. Epic owes 30% of the $ 12.1 million it earned from V-Buck sales from August through October 2020, plus 30% of the amount it earned from the Epic direct payment program, according to the ruling.



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