In a recent Announcement, Epic CEO Tim Sweeney announced that Apple blacklisted Fortnite from the Apple Ecosystem.
Back in August of 2020, Epic Games introduced a direct payment method that prompted Apple to block Fortnite from the Apple Store. Following this, Epic filed a lawsuit against Apple to bring back Fortnite to the Apple Store.
Just a few days ago, the final verdict of the Epic Vs Apple lawsuit was announced. The Court ruled in favor of Apple in this lawsuit. A lot of Fortnite IOS players thought that Fortnite will come back to IOS after the Lawsuit was over. But now it looks like that dream is not coming true anytime soon.
Epic Games CEO Tim Sweeney recently shared some info related to all of this. He wrote on Twitter that Apple apparently told the whole world and the court that Fortnite would come back to the Apple Store after Epic agrees to follow the same rules of payment as other developers. But now Apple has decided to Blacklist Fortnite from the IOS ecosystem until all court cases are resolved which could take up to 5 years.
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Tim Sweeney Wrote,
“Apple lied. Apple spent a year telling the world, the court, and the press they’d “welcome Epic’s return to the App Store if they agree to play by the same rules as everyone else”. Epic agreed, and now Apple has reneged in another abuse of its monopoly power over a billion users.”
And after the Lawsuit ruling was over, Epic agreed to follow Apple’s rules according to Tim Sweeney.
“Just last week, Epic agreed with Apple that we would play by the same rules as everyone else.”
Despite the agreement, Apple informed Tim Sweeney that Fortnite would be blacklisted from the Apple Ecosystem. Fortnite would remain blacklisted until all court cases are resolved. Tim let us know that this could take as long as 5 years.
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.
So, we might not see Fortnite back on the Apple Store for the next 5 years. Seems like Fortnite IOS players will be stuck in Chapter 2 Season 3 for many more years to come.
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