Update 8/28/2020 3:37 PM PT: Tim Sweeney responds to Apple's statement about terminating Epic Games' developer account.
What you need to know
- Apple has terminated the Epic Games developer account.
- There are no Epic Games titles available in the App Store right now.
- Apple didn't go against Judge Gonzalez Rogers' ruling.
Epic Games' entire catalogue of games has disappeared from the App Store after Apple terminated the Epic Games developer account. Last week, Epic Games tweeted that Apple told the company it would pull its developer account if it didn't comply with Apple's guidelines. The deadline for making the required changes was today, August 28.
This comes after U.S. District Judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers ruled that; A. Apple was within its rights to ban Fortnite from the App Store for violating its rules, but B. Apple could not revoke Epic Games as a developer.
Well, sort of.
Actually, the judge ruled that Apple could not limit Epic Games' ability to provide Unreal Engine and key graphics technology for other apps. Not that it couldn't terminate the Epic Games developer account.
According to CNBC.com, Apple terminated an Epic developer account that doesn't include the Unreal Engine used by third-party developers, so it actually did not go against the judge's ruling.
Apple's statement:
We are disappointed that we have had to terminate the Epic Games account on the App Store. We have worked with the team at Epic Games for many years on their launches and releases," Apple said. "The court recommended that Epic comply with the App Store guidelines while their case moves forward, guidelines they've followed for the past decade until they created this situation. Epic has refused. Instead they repeatedly submit Fortnite updates designed to violate the guidelines of the App Store. This is not fair to all other developers on the App Store and is putting customers in the middle of their fight. We hope that we can work together again in the future, but unfortunately that is not possible today.
Tim Sweeney responds to Apple's statement about Epic "spamming" the App Store review process
In a statement on Twitter, Epic Games CEO Tim Sweeney claimed Apple's statement "wasn't forthright."
Apple's statement isn't forthright. They chose to terminate Epic's account; they didn't have to. Apple suggests we spammed the App Store review process. That's not so. Epic submitted three Fortnite builds: two bug-fix updates, and the Season 4 update with this note:Hello,Fortnite build v14.0 with the new Season 4 has been uploaded through App Store Connect. This build continues to offer customers the choice of in-app purchases through either Apple's payment solution or through Epic direct payment. Epic is submitting this version in case Apple wishes to restore Fortnite to the App Store in time for Season 4 launch. Thanks.
