Oh boy it’s happening!
Well, It’s not much of a surprise, but Apple did, in fact, respond to Epic Games’ delibera- I mean, purely reactionary response to their ban from the App Store. According to Epic Games’ Newsroom, Apple is revoking all of Epic’s developer accounts and terminating their access to iOS and Mac development tools on the 28th of August. Coincidentally, Epic has also updated their court filing.
Epic has sought an injunction, per the document, to prevent Apple from “removing, de-listing, refusing to list or otherwise making unavailable the app Fortnite, including any update thereof, from the App Store on the basis that Fortnite offers in-app payment processing through means other than Apple’s In-App Purchase (“IAP”) or on any pretextual basis”, as well as to prevent them from doing the same to their games on any user devices.
In addition, Epic also wants to prevent them from “taking any adverse action against Epic, including but not limited to restricting, suspending, or terminating any Epic entity from Apple’s Developer Program”.
Do note that, despite the headline, this isn’t just Fortnite, but Unreal Engine as well. And Epic contends that Unreal Engine never violated these terms (and they’re correct in that assertion). So it’s not hard to imagine that this whole thing almost immediately went off the rails from what Epic plann- I mean, spontaneously thought would happen.
In a statement made to Gizmodo, an Apple spokesperson said
Today, Epic Games took the unfortunate step of violating the App Store guidelines that are applied equally to every developer and designed to keep the store safe for our users. As a result their Fortnite app has been removed from the store. Epic enabled a feature in its app which was not reviewed or approved by Apple, and they did so with the express intent of violating the App Store guidelines regarding in-app payments that apply to every developer who sells digital goods or services.
Epic has had apps on the App Store for a decade, and have benefited from the App Store ecosystem – including its tools, testing, and distribution that Apple provides to all developers. Epic agreed to the App Store terms and guidelines freely and we’re glad they’ve built such a successful business on the App Store. The fact that their business interests now lead them to push for a special arrangement does not change the fact that these guidelines create a level playing field for all developers and make the store safe for all users. We will make every effort to work with Epic to resolve these violations so they can return Fortnite to the App Store.
Whoo, boy, I have a feeling this might heat up a bit.
Epic Game Store Cart Status: Nonexistent
Source: Gizmodo
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