Epic Games CEO Tim Sweeney recently posted that Apple has rejected the company’s request to re-instate Epic’s developer account, effectively banning Fortnite from returning to the App Store post the legal battle between Epic and Apple.
Sweeney posted on the micro-blogging social media account this morning a letter sent to him by Apple turning down Epic’s request to have its developer program account reinstated.
Moreover, Apple also shared it will not consider requests to reinstate Epic’s account “until the district court’s judgment becomes final and non-appealable”. According to Sweeney, this could take as long as five years.
The issue began when Epic rebelled against how Apple took 30 per cent fee from every digital transaction in Fortnite. Epic protested by offering its own payment option in the iOS app, which caused Apple to remove Fortnite from iOS devices. In response to it, Epic suing Apple; as a result of which Epic lost its Apple Developer Account and Fortnite got struck off of Apple devices.
The lawsuit itself eventually went to trial and the judge ruled that external payment systems should be allowed on apps available in the App Store. And while that may seem like a win for Epic, the judge also ruled that Epic Games breached its contract with Apple and was ordered to pay Apple $6 million in fines.
The court has termed Apple’s termination of Epic’s developer account as valid and lawful. According to Sweeney, Apple must not backtrack on its promise to reinstate the game as they are abiding by the rules.