The entire Epic Games versus Apple saga has taken an awkward turn where Fortnite is not let being into the App Store.
Epic Games has Submitted Fortnite on App Store but Apple hasn’t Released it so Far
It started off with a Fortnite update back in 2020 in which the game was asking users to bypass the App Store payment system in order to ‘save money’, because there was no 30% commission included outside the App Store.
Of course, you couldn’t do that in an app back then; therefore, Fortnite was taken offline until changes were made to the game so that it can’t ask users to bypass the App Store payment system for a third-party one.
Epic Games and its CEO Tim Sweeney chose to go to war with Apple instead.
During this time, Apple even banned the official Epic Games account on the App Store. And interestingly enough, the court says Apple has the right to keep the account banned.
After many court visitations, the judge gave a ruling that developers can bypass Apple’s payment system entirely in favor of a third-party one.
You’re now absolutely caught up and you don’t need to anything more, which brings us to what is happening presently.
A few days back, Epic Games submitted Fortnite on the App Store and before it could be released, it was re-submitted again with more updates to the game.
But, the interesting thing here is, we are way beyond the usual App Store review period and there’s absolute silence from Apple on the matter, and Tim Sweeney even said Apple usually moves very quickly in its review process.
Now here’s the part where things get interesting.
Fortnite has been available on the iPhone and iPad in the EU through a third-party store. That too is no longer available for download, most likely in protest by Epic Games until Fortnite sees a proper release on the App Store worldwide.
I’m not even sure if that’s a well-educated move.
The wild thing is, Apple is completely silent on the matter to this minute and there’s no telling if Fortnite will ever be back on the App Store.
There is a chance Apple might get a temporary stay on the ruling, and Apple can simply use that to reject Fortnite because it features a third-party payment method for paying for stuff inside the game.
What really blows my mind is how Epic Games is willing to sacrifice its entire game just because it doesn’t want to pay Apple’s rent. And guess who is suffering the most in all of this?
The Fortnite player on iPhone and iPad.
Update: Apple has issued a statement to Bloomberg that reads as follows:
We asked that Epic Sweden resubmit the app update without including the US storefront of the App Store so as not to impact Fortnite in other geographies. We did not take any action to remove the live version of Fortnite from alternative distribution marketplaces in the EC.
Basically, the app is blocked in the United States and Apple has nothing to do with the game being unavailable in the EU.
You be the judge who is in the wrong here.
