While Fortnite is currently banned from the Apple App Store, Judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers confirmed Apple’s decision. Yesterday he had his voice in defense of the game exclusion from the App Store. However, iOS and macOS won’t lock down the Unreal Engine.
New milestone in the legal battle between Epic Games, the company responsible for the Unreal Engine graphics engine and the hit game Fortnite, against Apple. Due to the health crisis, the very first hearing actually took place yesterday, remotely, and on the Zoom software.
That the developers be reassured: if the news is rather bad as for a possible reintroduction of the game Fortnite on the App Store of iOS, it is rather good for the conservation of the games taking advantage of the graphics engine of Epic Games, the Unreal Engine, which will not ultimately be banned from Apple’s services.
Fortnite still banned from the App Store, Unreal Engine does not budge
After Fortnite was banned from the App Store and Google Play Store more than a week ago, Apple’s Epic Games effectively threatened to ban all Unreal Engine-based games on August 28. The Cupertino-based company even wants to lock down all Epic Game developer accounts in order to cut all ties with the company if it doesn’t follow the App Store protocol. In an order filed with a California court, Epic Games asked Apple to stop retaliating in the hope that the ruling would be overturned.
Bottom line: If Unreal Engine stays, Fortnite won’t come back until Epic Games meets the demands of the App Store. “I can tell you right now that I am not inclined to grant a remedy with respect to games, but I am inclined to grant a remedy with regard to the Unreal Engine,” said Judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers. “You cannot suffer irreparable harm when it is you who inflicted it on yourself,” she added. Justice has therefore ruled: as long as Epic Games continues to offer an alternative payment system – which avoids the 30% of commissions that Apple traditionally took on Fortnite through the App Store – the game will not do its return to iOS.
Regarding the possible withdrawal of Unreal Engine from Apple’s ecosystems, a decision that could have harmed many developers, “Epic Games and Apple are free to argue against each other, but their dispute cannot must not wreak havoc on the spectators ”stressed the judge.
A second hearing will take place on September 28. This should highlight anti-competitive practices from Apple, which also recently sued Prepear over its pear-shaped logo.