Apple App Store revokes Epic’s developer accounts

By
Jerome Castro
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Epic Games and Apple agree to not use a jury trial

Apple has now terminated Epic’s developer account from the Apple App Store. Any remaining Epic Games titles are now wiped off from the iOS storefront.

In a recent turn of events, Apple killed off whatever potential updates Epic had in the works. This move comes after a lawsuit filed by Epic against the tech giant. As a result, Epic cannot add any of their first-party titles back into the Apple App Store.

Epic vs Apple dispute is a series of one-upmanship

So far, the fight over payment rights between Apple and Epic Games is escalating further and further. Everything started with Epic trying to push an update for their Fortnite mobile game. The update would allow them to bypass Apple’s 30% cut in in-app purchases.

As a result, Apple banned Fortnite as it’s in violation of their TOS. Fortnite publisher Epic Games retaliated with a lawsuit, suing Apple and Google in the process. The dispute is asking the courts to decide on the matter.

In a continuous tale of one-upmanship, Apple pushed to disable the developer accounts for Epic. The tech giant also tried to disable the dev kit for the Unreal Engine. Unreal is something many third-party devs rely on, especially for iOS.

At the moment, Apple is unable to attack Unreal Engine because of a TRO. However, the company pushed through disabling Epic’s dev tools and accounts. Epic Games now cannot request update reviews even if they remove the bypass.

Apple “disappointed” over Epic spat

The tale of the Apple App Store lawsuit is frivolous in the eyes of Apple. According to an interview, Apple laments the falling out between them and Epic Games.

“We are disappointed that we have had to terminate the Epic Games account on the App Store,” according to a statement by Apple. “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.”

Epic Games CEO Tim Sweeney responded against the statement. He notes that the suggestion that they spammed the Apple App Store review process is incorrect. The proceedings for the dispute will start anywhere between six to ten months from now.

Featured image courtesy of Fortnite/YouTube Screenshot

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