Dave
Honorary Master
Apple bans Epic Games from App Store until all litigation is finalised
The indefinite ban was shared through a series of tweets posted by Epic Games CEO Tim Sweeney.
www.zdnet.com
Apple has blacklisted Epic Games from returning to its App Store ecosystem indefinitely despite the games developer saying it would disable its own payments system, according to a series of emails published on Twitter and a blog post by Epic CEO Tim Sweeney.
Epic's iOS developer account was suspended in August last year as a result of the company introducing a new payment system aimed at sidestepping Apple's payment systems and 30% commission fees. The ban sparked the lawsuits Epic has raised against Apple, with the US lawsuit culminating in a mixed court ruling a fortnight ago.
The mixed court ruling found Apple was justified in terminating Epic's iOS developer account as it violated App Store guidelines.
That decision has since been appealed by Epic, and the court is currently determining whether the appeal should proceed.
One of the published emails allegedly sent by Apple's legal representatives -- dated September 21 -- said the games developer's apps, such as its flagship game Fortnite, would not be allowed to return to the App Store until the US lawsuit was finalised.
"Apple has exercised its discretion not to reinstate Epic's developer program account at this time. Furthermore, Apple will not consider any further requests for reinstatement until the district court's judgment becomes final and non-appealable," the emails reads.
