Things are escalating between Apple and Epic. Apple has terminated Epic’s developer account in the Apple app store, removing other Epic games in the process.
The war between Apple and Epic is going nuclear. It’s quite the escalation since it all started earlier this month. The flashpoint in this one is when Apple kicked Fortnite from its app store. In response, Epic sued Apple for anti-competitive behavior. The case went before a judge where he ruled that the Unreal Engine can stay in the app store for now while Fortnite can remain banned. Some might point to an assist from Microsoft for making that happen.
Now, it looks like Apple has escalated things in the debate by banning Epic’s developer account, thus terminating access to its other games in the app store. From Tech Crunch:
Epic Games has been removed from Apple’s App Store.
If you’ve already downloaded Fortnite to your Mac or iOS device, it should still work, but Epic’s termination means the Fortnite developer will no longer be able to submit new apps or updates.
MacStories Managing Editor John Voorhees noted the termination on Twitter, as well as the fact that the App Store is currently featuring Fortnite competitor PUBG.
Apple confirmed the move in a statement:
We are disappointed that we have had to terminate the Epic Games account on the App Store. We have worked with the team at Epic Games for many years on their launches and releases. The court recommended that Epic comply with the App Store guidelines while their case moves forward, guidelines they’ve followed for the past decade until they created this situation. Epic has refused. Instead they repeatedly submit Fortnite updates designed to violate the guidelines of the App Store. This is not fair to all other developers on the App Store and is putting customers in the middle of their fight. We hope that we can work together again in the future, but unfortunately that is not possible today.
The article goes on to say that the move does not affect Unreal Engine, but if you want to buy and download Epic games from the Apple app store, that is now no longer possible.
Some might look at this and say that this is just Apple trying to retaliate while staying within the bounds of the recent court ruling. After all, it had attempted to ban the Unreal Engine from the app store. The only reason its still up in the app store is because the judge ruled that it can stay. On the other side, the judge did point out that the Fortnite situation appears to be something of Epic’s own doing. This is because Epic offered discounts within the app to purchase V-Bucks – something Apple contends circumvents the Apple payment system that is a violation of their Terms of Service.
At any rate, things are growing uglier in the feud between Apple and Epic. We’ll try and keep up with these fast-paced developments as they arise.
Drew Wilson on Twitter: @icecube85 and Facebook.
