- Players might have to wait for years to play Fortnite on Apple devices
- The lawsuit started in August and still continues
- Federal and district judges cannot agree over Apple's alleged illegal monopoly
Tim Sweeney, CEO of Epic, said that Apple has blacklisted Fortnite from Apple until the ‘exhaustion of all court appeals.' This could take years to resolve.
CEO of Fortnite Claims the Blacklisting Is Due to Ongoing Legal Disputes
The CEO of Fortnite maker Epic Games Inc., Tim Sweeney, said on Wednesday that Fortnite will be “blacklisted from the Apple ecosystem.” This is due to Epic Games and Apple's ongoing legal dispute which, according to Sweeney's tweet, may last for further five years, meaning Apple users who are fans of the game will have to wait a long time to play Fortnite, even though there were early signs of rapprochement between the two companies.
Epic began a lawsuit against Apple in August 2020. The reason was that Fortnite's developer accounts were disabled because Epic started offering in-app purchases through its system. When purchases are made using Apple's store, Apple receives a fee which is up to 30% of the article's price. On September 1, Apple said that they will be moving away from this method, allowing apps such as Netflix and Spotify to redirect users to external pages for the purchase of articles.
A Lawsuit Worth Billions and Disappointing Millions
Epic claims that Apple is ripping off app creators by charging a fee that can go up to 30% for in-app purchases because it only allows Apple-owned stores on its mobile devices.
Sweeney tweeted that Apple spent the last year promising the court and the public that they would welcome Epic's return to the App Store if they agree to play by the same rules as everyone else. He adds that after Epic's agreement, Apple has once again started abusing its monopoly.
Earlier this September, the federal judge in charge of the lawsuit decided that Apple should dismantle a lucrative part of the competitive wall which inhibits purchasing methods other than those provided by the iPhone app store.
Allegations of the company running an illegal monopoly that prohibits the growth of innovation and competition have been rejected, however. District Judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers did not come to the same conclusion and did not require the company to allow competing stores to offer apps for iPhones, iPads, and iPods.
Epic is currently appealing this decision.
