Published , by TJ Denzer
Published , by TJ Denzer
When the dust settled on the first stage of court proceedings in the lawsuit between Epic Games and Apple, Apple found itself hit with an injunction that would bar it from punishing developers for including or linking to alternative payment methods on its platform. Meanwhile, Epic Games took a hit in the verdict for the way in which it used Fortnite to goad Apple into the lawsuit. Judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers determined that Apple was legal in its decision to bar Fortnite and Epic Games from its platform ecosystem, a decision Apple will take advantage of until the court battle is completely over.
Apple announced this decision in a letter to Epic Games and its CEO Tim Sweeney, shared via Sweeney’s Twitter on September 22, 2021. According to the letter, sent in response to Epic’s appeal for a reinstatement of its developer account on Apple platforms, Apple will continue to blacklist Epic Games and Fortnite from the apple ecosystem until court proceedings between the two companies are final and unappealable.
The decision could have been seen from a mile away after that particular point of Judge Gonzales Rogers’ verdict on September 10, 2021. While Epic Games has already begun the process of appeal over further ruling that Apple had not acted monopolistically (though it was decided the company acted anti-competitively), Epic Games will be forced to comply with Apple’s decision until either the courts or Apple decides otherwise. That means, as expected, we won’t see Fortnite on the App Store, iOS, or further Apple platforms likely until the court case has finished. Even then, we might only see it Epic Games and Fortnite back in the Apple ecosystem if an appeal goes in Epic’s favor.
It’s a long fight ahead for Epic Games. Tim Sweeney suggested it could be five years before court appeals are finally wrapped up. As such, it will be quite some time before the Epic Games v. Apple case comes to a close and, at least, an equally long time before we see Fortnite on an iPad or iPhone again. Stay tuned as we continue to follow this case for further updates and details.