In suspected retaliation for Epic’s recent 198Fortnite stunt and trying to dig a hole under Apple’s walled garden in order to bypass their payment system, a new statement issued by Epic Games claims that Apple will terminate all of their developer accounts.
Apple recently issued the following statement to The Verge, addressing the steps they were taking following Epic Games’ recent attempts to circumvent the App Store’s payment processes and allow players to directly purchase V-Bucks for their free-to-play title Fortnite.
Today, Epic Games took the unfortunate step of violating the App Store guidelines that are applied equally to every developer and designed to keep the store safe for our users. As a result their Fortnite app has been removed from the store. Epic enabled a feature in its app which was not reviewed or approved by Apple, and they did so with the express intent of violating the App Store guidelines regarding in-app payments that apply to every developer who sells digital goods or services.
Epic has had apps on the App Store for a decade, and have benefited from the App Store ecosystem - including it’s tools, testing, and distribution that Apple provides to all developers. Epic agreed to the App Store terms and guidelines freely and we’re glad they’ve built such a successful business on the App Store. The fact that their business interests now lead them to push for a special arrangement does not change the fact that these guidelines create a level playing field for all developers and make the store safe for all users. We will make every effort to work with Epic to resolve these violations so they can return Fortnite to the App Store.
The recent tweet from Epic Games’ Newsroom Twitter account makes it sound like the situation has not been resolved amicably and “these violations” regarding the payment system that Fortnite suddenly implemented last week still are cause for concern between these two billion dollar juggernauts.
Apple removed Fortnite from the App Store and has informed Epic that on Friday, August 28 Apple will terminate all our developer accounts and cut Epic off from iOS and Mac development tools. We are asking the court to stop this retaliation. Details here: https://t.co/3br1EHmyd8
— Epic Games Newsroom (@EpicNewsroom) August 17, 2020
This does not bode well for fans that have been following the Fortnite saga over the past week and still want to play the free-to-play battle royals title on an Apple device. If Apple follows through on their claims, this could mark the end of Fortnite on iPad, not to mention any further development of Epic Games’ titles and software on iOS and Mac OS for the foreseeable future.
We’d love to hear your thoughts on the ongoing stories between Apple and Epic Games (and Google too!).
About the author: Kai joined the gaming team of Wccftech in 2016 and has since penned over a hundred reviews and interview pieces, covering a bit of everything from one-man indie gems to AAA masterpieces and whatever lies in between. Over the recent months, Kai has expanded into preview and interview coverage of not only the gaming side of the industry but also tech and consumer electronics.
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