In an ongoing battle between the tech giant and Fortnite creator, Epic Games, Apple has officially terminated Epic Games’ Developer Account. This comes after Epic Games implemented a direct payment option into its iOS app to evade the 30% commission Apple takes on in-app purchases. Apple then pulled the app from the App Store citing a violation of App Store terms.
In a statement to Bloomberg, Apple claimed it was ready to “welcome Fortnite back onto iOS” if Epic removed the direct payment option. Apple notified Epic Games that they had 14-days to make changes to their app or their developer account would be terminated on August 28, 2020.
The Cupertino company originally wanted to terminate both developer accounts belonging to Epic Games and Epic International, a separate account associated with Epic’s Unreal Engine, which could have effected multiple third-party app developers. A judge ruled earlier this week that Apple could not revoke Epic International’s developer account, but ruled Epic had “created the situation” and made a “strategically and calculated move to breach” App Store terms.
In a statement today, Apple commented on the account termination:
We are disappointed that we have had to terminate the Epic Games account on the App Store. 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. Epic has refused. Instead they repeatedly submit Fortnite updates designed to violate the guidelines of the App Store. This is not fair to all other developers on the App Store and is putting customers in the middle of their fight. We hope that we can work together again in the future, but unfortunately that is not possible today.
The company also says the removal of the Epic Games’ account is standard protocol for all accounts disregarding App Store policies.
