Last week we reported on apparent Apple stonewalling in regard to Fortnite’s return to the US App Store, as the corporation appeared to be shuffling its feet in the usually swift approval process, which in turn forced Epic Games to cancel an update for the battle royale shooter on all platforms and resubmit its latest build. Unfortunately, the drama is dragging on, as Epic has now shared Apple’s response, which effectively boils down to another legal stalling for the shooter’s return – and more court filings from Epic.
After a week of silence, Apple’s letter to Epic Games states that it will not act on Fortnite’s app submission, regardless of the country of origin the submission comes from, until the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals rules on a partial stay of the injunction compelling Apple to allow third-party payment processors.
As a result of this decision, Epic has filed a new legal request to the courts asking for a motion to enforce the injunction and allow Fortnite back on to the US App Store. Part of the filing’s argument is that Apple’s behavior is specifically retaliating against Fortnite because while it shut down one developer account in 2020, other Epic Games accounts or apps have not been removed. “Apple’s refusal to consider Epic’s Fortnite submission is Apple’s latest attempt to circumvent this Court’s Injunction and this Court’s authority,” the filing concludes.
Incidentally, the iOS version of Fortnite is no longer available anywhere in the world where previously it was playable for EU fans. The game’s official Twitter account claims this is a result of Apple’s blocks, but a spokesperson for Apple told Bloomberg that’s not the case and that EU gamers can play the shooter on iOS again – so long as Epic’s submission for app approval doesn’t include the US version.
“We’ve been transparent with Apple about our intentions while they’ve used app review and notarization as a pretext to circumvent the Court’s injunction and the EU Digital Markets Act,” Epic’s statement argues. “Apple’s ‘solution’ required us to submit two versions of Fortnite, in violation of their guideline that developers shouldn’t submit multiple versions of the same app. […] Apple is again retaliating against Epic for challenging the legality of their anticompetitive behavior and we will fight on.”
Meanwhile, in an almost impressive bout of professional pettiness, Epic Games CEO Tim Sweeney has been highlighting Fortnite knockoffs that have been allowed on the US App Store, likely to prove a point of Apple’s own hypocritical behavior. He also effectively openly slid up into Apple CEO Tim Cook’s DMs, asking in a tweet wholly unrelated to Fortnite if he would let “mutual customers” access the game.
This is all to say that none of this is over. It’s never over. And we are all very exhausted.
