Tim Sweeney said that Apple has blacklisted the Fortnite game in its ecosystem. Battle Royale will stay there until the court hears all appeals in the Epic Games case. It may take about five years.
The head of Epic Games announced Apple’s decision on Twitter. Sweeney said that his company asked Apple to restore its developer account and return Fortnite to iOS. They say Epic Games fulfilled the court requirements by removing its payment system from the title and paying the “apple company” a fine of $ 6 million. However, Apple refused to do this.
Sweeney also shared a letter from Apple’s lawyers, in which they explained the company’s action. In particular, they quoted Sweeney himself that Epic Games would not abandon its own payment system for the sake of returning Fortnite to the App Store. However, according to Sweeney, his words were distorted and misinterpreted.
Apple confirmed that the published letter is real, but declined to comment further.
The proceedings between Apple and Epic Games have been going on for more than a year. The court’s decision on the case was made on September 10, but it did not suit the Fortnite developer, who soon filed an appeal. Later, Apple noted that it did not know whether it would also try to challenge the judge’s verdict.