Judge blocks Epic Games from bringing its Fortnite battle against Apple to the UK
A judge in the UK has blocked Epic Games from bringing its App Store lawsuit against Apple to courts in the country after the game developer filed a complaint with the UK antitrust tribunal over the removal of the popular Fortnite game from the App Store in August last year.
Apple and Google pulled Fortnite from their respective app stores last year after Epic Games pushed an update to the Fortnite app that implemented a new “direct payment” option in an effort to evade the commission the App Store and Google Play store take from in-app purchases.
Epic Games quickly fought back by filing a civil antitrust lawsuit against Apple, arguing that Apple has allegedly used a “series of anti-competitive restraints and monopolistic practices,” specifically citing the App Store and associate in-app purchase guidelines.
Since the removal of the app, Epic Games and Apple have been fighting it out in court, with neither party making significant progress in its fight.