The legal dispute between Epic Games and Apple regarding the online shooter Fortnite continues in court. The presiding judge now states that Epic has simply been “dishonest” in its actions against Apple. However, there is still no final judgment.
What is happening between Epic and Apple? After Epic Games had enabled the purchase of the in-game currency “V-Bucks” directly via update to bypass Apple’s App Store fees, Apple removed Fortnite from the store. Google followed suit.
Subsequently, Epic Games sued Apple and Google. A dispute ensued, in which Apple threatened to close all developer accounts of Epic developers and ultimately did so. This cut off developers from the iOS and Mac tools, leading to catastrophic consequences for games using the Unreal Engine. A court ruled that Apple had to restore access, but Fortnite remains excluded from the App Store.
According to Epic, this exclusion from the App Store has led to massive player count drops in Fortnite. Therefore, they requested the court to lift the ban from the Apple Store.
Not a good day for Epic
This is what the judge said about the situation: Although no verdict has yet been spoken as to how Fortnite and the App Store should proceed, harsh words were directed at Epic.
Essentially, it concerns the way Epic altered their game Fortnite to circumvent the App Store. Apple accused Epic of having stealthily introduced a new version of Fortnite via a hotfix, like a “Trojan horse,” to bypass Apple’s security measures. In this new version of Fortnite, players could then buy V-Bucks directly from Epic. This version was said to have been deployed late at night.
Judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers stated now according to CNN.com, Epic has simply not been honest with Apple when they introduced the update with direct V-Bucks purchasing.
You did something. You lied by simply not telling them. That is the security issue! There are a lot of people out there who see you as heroes for this action, but you were still not honest.
Judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers to Epic
Epic explained that they wanted to take action against the monopolist Apple, who takes 30% of the developers’ revenue. That would have been the original reason Epic enabled direct purchasing through Fortnite.
However, Judge Gonzales Rogers sees Epic’s appeal a bit differently. She stated:
Closed platforms/systems have existed for decades. Nintendo has such a system. Sony has one. Microsoft has it too. What Apple is doing is not really different. It is difficult to simply ignore the economic system of the industry, which is exactly what you are asking me to do.
Judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers to Epic
Observers said that the hearing was “brutal” for Epic. The judge responded very skeptically to Epic’s arguments (via twitter).
There is still no ruling in this case. It also doesn’t look like a decision will follow soon: The judge mentioned that due to her schedule, a date in 2021 might be possible.
Not only Epic itself is affected by this situation, as all iOS Fortnite players still cannot update their game to the latest season. While most players are already evaluating a verdict on Season 4 in Fortnite, iOS players have not experienced it at all.
