Throughout the past few weeks, Epic Games and Apple have been in a well-publicized standoff regarding guideline violations. Apple had initially removed Fortnite from the App Store since Epic Games violated the iOS terms of agreement. As a result, Epic Games filed a lawsuit against Apple, causing Apple to threaten to terminate Epic Games’ developer account. Unfortunately, Apple followed through with their threat on Friday. This all escalated quickly and there seem to be two sides to the story.
Terminating Epic’s developer account
The ongoing fight to keep Fortnite and other Unreal Engine games on iOS caught many people by surprise on Friday. Apple has officially ended Epic Games’ developer account, which means it can no longer create games for iPhone, Mac, or iPad. Although Apple suspended Epic Games’ developer account, a judge ruled that Apple cannot prohibit iOS access to Unreal Engine.
After pulling the games from the App Store, Apple published a statement regarding the matter. ″We are disappointed that we have had to terminate the Epic Games account on the App Store,” Apple began. “We have worked with the team at Epic Games for many years on their launches and releases. 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.”
Apple says it has terminated Epic’s App Store developer account and they’ll no longer be able to submit new apps or updates. pic.twitter.com/AKIQibgxBd
— Mark Gurman (@markgurman) August 28, 2020
Firing back at Apple was Epic Games CEO Tim Sweeney, who gave them a piece of his mind on Twitter. He stated that Apple is wrong in its wording and corrects them on his caption.
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. pic.twitter.com/VpWEERDp5L
— Tim Sweeney (@TimSweeneyEpic) August 28, 2020
PUBG Mobile is in the clear, for now
Apple’s latest move affects mobile games such as Fortnite: Battle Royale and the Infinity Blade trilogy. Unfortunately, those who have deleted the game from their devices cannot re-download it through the purchased tab of their iCloud account. For those who still have the game, they will not receive any updates or make any in-app purchases using Apple’s payment system.
In the meantime, Sweeney shared that PUBG Mobile is still available on the app store since it’s powered by Unreal Engine. Apple recently shared details regarding game’s newest update.
While waiting for Apple to #FreeFortnite on iOS and Mac, here’s another awesome battle royale game powered by Unreal Engine! https://t.co/IZJL1YYUtv
— Tim Sweeney (@TimSweeneyEpic) August 28, 2020
Published: Aug 29, 2020 02:59 pm