Earlier this month, the legal battle between Apple and Epic Games came to an end, with the latter losing a lot more than the former. But as is the case with such legal battles, the party with the shorter end of the stick is allowed to call for a round two. As expected, the company behind Fortnite chose to use that move. But while the legal battle continues, the game won’t be allowed on the App Store.
Epic Games CEO Tim Sweeney tweeted that last week, he sent an email to Apple asking for Fortnite to be put back on the App Store. And more recently, he received a reply that basically meant that Fortnite won’t be allowed back in until the end of all legal proceedings. Which could mean up to five more years out of the App Store while the appeals process is ongoing.
Late last night, Apple informed Epic that Fortnite will be blacklisted from the Apple ecosystem until the exhaustion of all court appeals, which could be as long as a 5-year process. pic.twitter.com/QCD7wogJef
— Tim Sweeney (@TimSweeneyEpic) September 22, 2021
It goes without saying that, after a year-long legal fight, another five years will feel like quite the heavy hit. In its one year out of the App Store, Epic Games still had to pay the 30% cut to Apple, resulting in a US$6 million (RM25 million) bill.
Epic Games already lost nine out of 10 counts it brought against Apple. And if the iPhone maker has the right to bar Fortnite from the App Store for another five years, then Epic may as well have lost that last one, considering that it is not benefiting from it’s one win.
(Source: Tim Sweeney / Twitter [1], [2] via VGC)
