Epic Says Apple Has Blocked Fortnite's Return to the U.S. App Store — and Now Tim Sweeney Is Tweeting Tim Cook to Complain

Epic’s long-running conflict with Apple implicit the aboriginal of Fortnite connected iOS devices has taken different turn, with Epic accusing Apple of blocking its Fortnite submission truthful it can’t merchandise the crippled to the U.S. App Store.

Earlier this month, Epic brag Tim Sweeney said Fortnite would instrumentality to the U.S. iOS App Store and iPhones successful a substance of days aft a important tribunal ruling.

On April 30, a U.S. Federal District Court successful California recovered that Apple wilfully violated a tribunal bid successful the Epic Games v. Apple lawsuit that required Apple to alteration developers to connection their customers alternate ways to marque purchases extracurricular apps.

Epic's Tim Sweeney is determined to decision Apple and Google, nevertheless agelong it takes. Photo by SeongJoon Cho/Bloomberg.

In January, IGN reported connected however Sweeney had spent billions of dollars warring Apple and Google implicit the mode the companies tally their app stores. Sweeney told IGN astatine the clip that helium considered it a semipermanent concern successful Epic and Fortnite’s future, insisting Epic could spend to support up the combat for decades to come.

Sweeney’s ongoing conflict to get Fortnite backmost connected iPhones and Android phones portion avoiding paying store fees is well-documented. The gist is this: Epic doesn’t privation to wage the present modular 30% store fees connected gross made connected mobile games. Instead, it wants to tally the likes of Fortnite done its ain mobile store, the Epic Games Store, without Apple and Google getting successful the mode and gobbling up its profit. Back successful 2020, this quality ended up with Fortnite blocked from merchandise connected iOS.

After Sweeney’s tweet it was expected that Fortnite would instrumentality to iOS, but truthful far… nothing. And now, Epic has issued a connection to IGN providing an update:

“Apple has blocked our Fortnite submission truthful we cannot merchandise to the US App Store oregon to the Epic Games Store for iOS successful the European Union. Now, sadly, Fortnite connected iOS volition beryllium offline worldwide until Apple unblocks it.”

That’s a unspeakable concern for Epic, which has mislaid retired connected billions of dollars of gross successful the 5 years since Fortnite was booted disconnected iPhones. Now, Tim Sweeney is tweeting astatine Apple brag Tim Cook to effort to get him to alteration his mind.

“Hi Tim. How astir if you fto our communal customers entree Fortnite? Just a thought.”

Hi Tim. How astir if you fto our communal customers entree Fortnite? Just a thought.

After the tribunal ruling, Apple was referred to national prosecutors for violating the U.S. tribunal order. "Apple’s continued attempts to interfere with contention volition not beryllium tolerated," U.S. District Judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers said. "This is an injunction, not a negotiation. There are nary do-overs erstwhile a enactment willfully disregards a tribunal order."

The Judge referred Apple and 1 of its executives, Alex Roman, vice president of finance, to national prosecutors for a transgression contempt probe into their behaviour successful the case. Roman gave grounds astir the steps Apple took to comply with her injunction that was "replete with misdirection and outright lies," the justice wrote.

In a connection issued astatine the time, Apple said: "we powerfully disagree with the decision. We volition comply with the court’s bid and we volition appeal." Last week, Apple asked the U.S. appeals tribunal to intermission the ruling successful the Epic Games case.

Wesley is the UK News Editor for IGN. Find him connected Twitter astatine @wyp100. You tin scope Wesley astatine [email protected] oregon confidentially astatine [email protected].