As early as September 10, a lengthy lawsuit between Epic Games and Apple presented its findings. The decision left both parties unsatisfied, as Fortnite developers were unable to prove that the American giant was a monopoly, but an additional 30 percent margin on the Apple Store was found to violate the rights of all developers. Now it looks like the game should be available again soon on iOS, but it doesn’t seem to be.
Epic Games CEO Tim Sweeney posted a letter from Apple’s lawyers on his Twitter account saying that the latter did not even think about bringing Fortnite back to its online store. Specifically, due to the dubious behavior of Epic in the past, they refuse to return your developer account to the App Store. The letter also claims that the tech giant doesn’t even promise to reconsider this decision anytime soon.
It is true that things can change if the final decision of the court tells you to do otherwise and it cannot be challenged. Tim Sweeney says it can take up to five years before that, which means Fortnite and other Epic Games games won’t appear on iOS smartphones until then. He also blames Apple for lying, saying that he was told that Epic Games could return to the App Store if he agreed to follow the rules like all other developers.
In short, no one admits their fault and it looks like Fortnite won’t be returning to the App Store at all. Obviously, Apple is trying to impose its own rules on Epic Games, and it seems like they will have to land sooner or later. Whichever side comes out on top here, Fortnite players who can’t download their favorite game from the App Store will suffer the most here.