Judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers has prevented Apple from terminating Epic Games' access to development tools on iOS, but will not require the tech giant to bring Fortnite back to the App Store. This is the latest development in an ongoing war between the two companies that could change the face of digital content distribution forever by potentially establishing that Apple has a monopoly on the iOS platform.
Epic Games has had its entire campaign against Apple planned from the start. As laid out in a recently unveiled email sent from CEO Tim Sweeney to Apple's CEO Tim Cook, Epic was prepared to take legal action well before it reduced the price of in-game Fortnite currency to undercut Apple's share of the profits. The events following this discount have played out just like Sweeney predicted: Apple pulled Fortnite from the App Store immediately, and Epic responded with swift legal action. In a further act of retaliation, Apple also threatened to cut Epic's developer accounts from iOS, which would jeopardize Epic's popular game creation platform Unreal Engine, making it unavailable for any independent developers who would use it to make titles on iOS.
Luckily for developers everywhere, it looks like Apple won't be able to follow through on that threat. As reported by The Verge, Judge Rogers has decreed that terminating support for Unreal Engine would be too severe and would cause needless distress and disruption for innocent bystanders. However, in the same decree, Rogers stated that Apple does not need to reinstate Fortnite on mobile devices. She stated that because Epic intentionally and strategically chose to breach the terms of its agreement with Apple, the tech company is well within its rights to refuse service. Furthermore, she found that Epic was unable to sufficiently demonstrate that Fortnite's removal from the App Store had caused significant, irreparable harm to the company.
This is a limited ruling, and far from the final say in the Epic-Apple debacle. Its intention is to preserve the status quo while the two parties gear up for the initial injunction, which is set to occur on September 28th. Both Epic and Apple are expected to prepare and present their arguments in the weeks leading up to this injunction. The actual trial between the tech companies will likely take place sometime next year, as both parties have stated that they will need several months to assemble their case.
Fortnite fans who were hoping for a speedy resolution to this ongoing legal battle will likely be disappointed knowing that it will be several months before the real action starts. But while Fortnite is unlikely to be appearing on mobile devices any time soon, this initial ruling is still good news for app developers. Unreal Engine is a powerful, widely-used platform, and its removal from iOS would have been calamitous, not just for Epic Games, but for developers worldwide. With this temporary restraining order in place, the future of the engine might still be a bit uncertain, but for now, its availability to developers who need it is secure.
Fortnite is still available on PlayStation 4, Xbox One, Nintendo Switch, and PC.
Source: The Verge
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