The feud between Epic Games and Apple has been going on for quite some time now.
The American video game and software company has been in a constant push and pull with Apple. Epic Games has now asked the court to stop Apple’s retaliation against Fortnite suit. In the company’s appeal to the court, they have asked Apple to reinstate Fortnite on its iOS platform.
Adding to the list of the continuous back and forth of lawsuits, Epic Games sent another appeal to the court. The game company has asked for an injunction to restore Fortnite to the App Store.
Today we asked the Court to stop Apple’s retaliation against Epic for daring to challenge its unlawful restrictions while our antitrust case proceeds. This is a necessary step to free consumers and developers from Apple’s costly, anti-competitive control.
The company even launched a social media campaign with the hashtag #FreeFortnite. This was to apple pressure on Apple.
In the filing, Epic says that iOS is the biggest platform for Fortnite. There are 116 million registered Fortnite users on the platform. Fortnite has a total of 350 million registered users. And in the absence of a preliminary injunction, the company with suffer “irreparable harm”. About 63 percent of Fortnite users access the game on iOS only.
There are some heavy sentences on the filing. Epic says that it is worried that it will never see the iOS users it’s already lost ever again. Epic is in a tough spot with Apple. Fortnite’s new chapter is still inaccessible to iOS users. And here are other games that have been caught in the crossfire. Shadow Complex Remastered is one of them. The termination of Epic’s developer account on the App Store deleted the game.
The company also calls out Apple as a “monopolist”. They claim that Apple’s move of taking Fortnite down “was a clear warning to any other developer that would dare challenge Apple’s monopolies: follow our rules or we will cut you off from a billion iOS consumers – challenge us and we will destroy your business”.
Epic also claims that Apple has threatened to block any attempt to apply for a new developer account for at least a year. Epic is unwilling to count Apple’s move in damages.
During the last few days of August, Apple banned Epic Games from its iOS ecosystem. Apple wanted Epic to work in accordance with the company’s App Store policies. They wanted Epic to remove its direct payment system for in-game purchases in Fortnite.
Since that decision, Epic’s account on Apple has been terminated. This prevents the company to update or publish games. iOS Fornite players are unable to update the game and new users can’t download it in their devices. This move by Apple also cost iOS users the exclusive Infinity Blade Trilogy. The exclusively iOS focussed game is now no longer available on the platform.
Apple is rigid on its decision and is unwilling to let Epic Games resume on iOS platforms. That is until the company drops the “Epic Payment” option from its games.
In a statement released in July, Douglas G. Vetter, Vice President & Associate General Counsel for Apple said:
Surely Epic must understand that Apple is entitled to a return on its investment and the use of its property. After all, Epic takes great pains to protect its own investments and intellectual property. Yet somehow, you believe Apple has no right to do the same, and want all the benefits Apple and the App Store provide without having to pay a penny. Apple cannot bow to that unreasonable demand.
Apple is yet to respond to this recent filing by Epic Games. The Labor Day weekend is approaching soon. And, chances are, we won’t be hearing back from Apple yet.
