Movies

Epic Games says Apple blocked ‘Fortnite’ in U.S. app store

BBG News

On Friday, Epic Games announced that their hit game “Fortnite” would temporarily go offline on Apple devices due to Apple blocking an update for the app.

The disagreement arises merely a few weeks following the court decision applauded by Epic Games and several app creators, which restricted the commission fees Apple collects from third-party apps sold via their app store.

A U.S. District Judge, Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers, criticized Apple harshly, as she agreed with Epic Games’ claims that Apple violated a ruling she made in 2021, after determining Apple acted against fair competition practices.

Under the rule, Apple is prohibited from receiving commissions on purchases made by U.S. users when they are directed through links within iPhone applications to external websites. Developers aim to prevent Apple from claiming a portion of their income by guiding users towards different online platforms instead.

In her decision, the judge expressed that Apple’s presumption about the court’s tolerance for disobedience was a significant misunderstanding.

numerous programmers praised the court’s decision that restricts what they refer to as the ‘Apple levy’, and expressed their intent to share the cost reduction with clients instead.

Epic Games CEO Tim Sweeney stated earlier this month that Fortnite could be reinstated on the U.S. App Store and potentially worldwide if Apple makes its “frictionless, tax-free court-approved framework” available globally. However, the official Fortnite account announced on Friday that Apple has blocked their resubmission.

Hollywood Inc.

As a follower, I’m sharing that a court decision has been made, requiring Apple to halt their commission fees on transactions outside of their app platform. This move could potentially boost developers’ income streams.

Currently, Fortnite on iOS is temporarily unavailable globally as Apple has yet to grant access, according to a recent post from their account. Epic Games declined to provide additional comments when reached out to.

As a movie enthusiast, I’d put it like this: “On Friday, I found out that Apple requested Epic Games Sweden to submit an updated version of their app, excluding the U.S. version of their App Store, to ensure that Fortnite remains unaffected in other regions.

Apple stated that they didn’t do anything to eliminate the active version of Fortnite from other online stores.

According to Rob Enderle, a principal analyst at Enderle Group, the latest decision primarily affects the US market, yet Apple seeks to maintain its global dominance. Notably, Apple generates substantial revenue from applications.

According to Enderle, Apple is leveraging its market dominance to hinder Fortnite from gaining global profit from its primary success.

Hollywood Inc.

Apple TV+’s series such as “Severance” and “The Studio” have received high praise, however, it still lags behind several other streaming platforms in terms of size.

In 2020, Epic Games took legal action against Apple. The popular game “Fortnite” earns money by allowing players to purchase digital items, like character skins, within the game. However, Epic wanted to give users an option to buy these items directly, outside of Apple’s system, to bypass their transaction fee.

The judge mandated that Apple should enable app creators to include external purchase links within their apps, allowing customers to buy goods elsewhere and thus avoiding Apple’s service charge. However, Apple refused to comply with this ruling, as stated by the court.

In simpler terms, the judge noted that Apple restricts how developers interact with their customers regarding purchases outside the app, using language intended to deter clicks on those links. The court decision stated that if a user clicks on such a link and makes any purchase within seven days, Apple will collect a fee for the transaction.

Apple is appealing the ruling and has said it strongly disagreed with the judge’s decision.

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2025-05-16 21:01

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