Apple App Store bans Fortnite amid legal dispute with Epic Games
Epic Games has reported that the Apple App Store has banned their Fortnite game. Epic Games CEO Tim Sweeney said on Wednesday, September 22 that Apple has decided to indefinitely block Epic Games’ Fortnite from the App Store until its legal battle (including appeals) with the developer ends.
Apple bans Fortnite from the App Store
Epic CEO Sweeny said on Twitter on Wednesday that Apple has banned Fortnite from the App Store until the legal battle is over, which could take years. Sweeney condemned Apple’s move and said his company would continue to fight.
“This is another extraordinary anti-competitive move by Apple, demonstrating its power to reshape markets and pick winners and losers,” Sweeney said.
According to the news, Apple confirmed the authenticity of the letter Sweeney shared, but declined to comment further. Apple has yet to say whether it will ask to stay the injunction pending the appeals process.
What is the whole matter?
Epic Games, the maker of the Fortnite game, and Apple have been in a legal dispute since August last year. Apple charges users a 30% fee on in-app purchases of apps and games on its App Store. Epic Games rolled out its own in-app payment system to avoid this, which has been a dispute between the two companies.
Fortnite’s creator, Epic Games, accused Apple of running its App Store as a monopoly. It also said that Apple completely decides which apps will be valid on its store and how these apps will run.