Epic Games is stepping up its campaign to get Apple to let its popular game, Fortnite, back into the App Store. They’ve filed a new court filing asking Judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers to order Apple to accept any version of Fortnite that meets their guidelines in the U.S. App Store.
This legal showdown between Epic and Apple has been going on for years, mainly focused on Apple’s rules about in-app purchase fees.
Recently, Epic scored a significant win when Judge Rogers decided that Apple was violating a court order regarding unfair pricing practices. This ruling raised hopes that Fortnite could soon return to the App Store and that developers might be allowed to offer different payment methods in their apps.
However, Apple plans to appeal this decision. Last Friday, Epic announced that Fortnite would remain unavailable on both the U.S. App Store and the Epic Games store in Europe, stating, “Unfortunately, Fortnite on iOS will be offline worldwide until Apple lets it back in.”
Apple has pushed back against claims that it’s preventing Fortnite from operating outside the United States. The company clarified that it asked Epic Sweden to resubmit the app update, this time leaving out the U.S. version of the App Store. The goal? To ensure Fortnite can still function smoothly in other parts of the world.
So, what’s the reason behind blocking Fortnite in the U.S.? Epic recently shared a letter from Mark A. Perry, a lawyer for Apple. In this letter, Perry informed Epic’s legal team that Apple would hold off on reviewing the Fortnite app submission until after the Ninth Circuit makes a decision on their current request for a temporary pause on a new court order.
In its court documents, Epic claims that Apple is stopping it from benefiting from rules that promote competition, rules that Epic helped create. They argue that Apple is essentially punishing them by cutting them off from a market they’ve worked hard to open up. This action also sends a strong warning to other developers about challenging Apple’s policies.
