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Apple terminates Fortnite creator developer account

August 28, 2020

Apple had removed the game from its App Store after Epic Games allowed users to purchase in-App features directly, without giving Apple a cut. It means iPhone and iPad users were excluded from a new release this week.

https://p.dw.com/p/3hiTg
Screenshot from "Fortnite"
Image: Epic Games, Inc.

Technology giant Apple terminated the developer account of Epic Games on Friday, following a dispute with the game studio over in-App payments in its hit-game Fortnite.

Epic had challenged Apple's policy of taking a cut of purchases made inside the App by allowing users to pay Epic directly at a cheaper price.

Apple had already removed Fortnite, which had 250 million players globally in 2019, from its App store earlier this month.

Now, Apple users will no longer be able to download the game or other Epic games on any Apple products that use its iOS operating system.

Legal wrangle

Earlier this week, a US court rejected a bid by Epic bid to reinstate Fortnite in the App Store, saying its eviction by Apple was a "self-inflicted wound."

In a statement, Apple said it was "disappointed" that Epic Games did not comply with App Store guidelines.

"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," Apple said. "Instead they repeatedly submit Fortnite updates designed to violate the guidelines of the App Store."

Epic Games did not comment, but earlier the head of the company Tim Sweeny retweeted an Apple tweet, promoting a competitor game, while using the hashtag #FreeFortnite.

kmm/rt (AFP, Reuters)