In early September 10, a lengthy lawsuit between Epic Games and Apple delivered its findings. The decision left both parties unsatisfied, as Fortnite’s developers failed to prove the US giant a monopoly, but the additional 30 percent markup on the Apple Store was found to infringe on the rights of all developers. Now it looks like the game should be available again on iOS soon, but it doesn’t seem to be the case.
Epic Games CEO Tim Sweeney posted a letter to Apple lawyers on his Twitter account, saying the latter had not even thought of bringing Fortnite back to its online store. Notably, due to Epic’s questionable behavior in the past, they are refusing to return their developer account to the App Store. The letter also said that the technology giant does not promise to reconsider the decision anytime soon.
True, things can change if the final court ruling tells you to do the opposite and it cannot be challenged. Tim Sweeney says it could take up to five years before that, which means Fortnite and other Epic Games games won’t appear on smartphones with iOS until then. He’s also blaming Apple for lying, saying he was told that Epic Games would be able to return to the App Store if it agreed to follow the rules like all other developers.
In short, no one admits their guilt and it seems that Fortnite may not return to the App Store at all. Clearly, Apple is trying to enforce its own rules on Epic Games, and it looks like they’ll have to take off sooner or later. Whichever side goes on top here, Fortnite players who can’t download their favorite game from the App Store will suffer the most here.
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