For more than a year, Apple has been locked in a legal dispute with Epic Games, the creators of the popular online game, Fortnite. Last August, Fortnite was removed from the Apple App Store after Epic attempted to introduce its own payment system to bypass Apple’s standard payment procedures. This led to a significant backlash against Apple, with Epic accusing the App Store of monopolistic practices, garnering support from other app developers facing similar issues.
The case went to court, and a California judge recently ruled that Apple cannot ban apps that offer alternative payment methods. However, the court did not declare the App Store a monopoly and upheld Apple’s decision to delist Fortnite from its platform.
Despite the legal proceedings, Apple has decided not to reinstate Fortnite on its store. In response to Epic’s request for relisting, an Apple representative stated that the company “has chosen not to restore Epic’s developer account at this time.”
“Furthermore, Apple will not entertain any requests for reinstatement until the court’s ruling is final and cannot be appealed,” the representative added. This process could stretch up to five years.
Late last night, Apple informed Epic that Fortnite will be blacklisted from the Apple ecosystem until the exhaustion of all court appeals, which could be as long as a 5-year process. pic.twitter.com/QCD7wogJef
— Tim Sweeney (@TimSweeneyEpic) September 22, 2021
Epic’s CEO, Tim Sweeney, criticized Apple’s decision through a series of tweets, labeling it as “another extraordinary anticompetitive move.”
“Apple made a promise,” he stated. “Epic complied, and now Apple has gone back on its word, showcasing further abuse of its monopoly power over a billion users.”
Apple has chosen not to respond to Sweeney’s comments.
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