Fortnite Still Backlisted By Apple, Says Epic's Tim Sweeney

Fortnite facing potential 5-year Apple blacklist, according to Epic

By DeAngelo Epps September 22, 2021

The Apple v. Epic Games battle is continuing even after a ruling in the court case between both companies. Today on Twitter, Epic Games’ CEO Tim Sweeney alleges that Apple has blacklisted Fortnite from the App Store and the rest of Apple’s ecosystem entirely until the exhaustion of all court appeals.

Apple and Epic’s battle truly began with a lawsuit in 2020. Epic added a new workaround to its App Store port, allowing it to get around the 30% cut that Apple takes off of all app purchases. Apple removed Fortnite from its App Store in response, so Epic sued Apple. The case ended with Apple mostly winning. It’s only penalty was having to give developers a button that allows them to link external payment methods. Meanwhile, Epic had to pay Apple $6 million for profits made after circumventing its 30% cut.

Sweeney plainly tweets that “Apple lied.” He claims that Apple said that it would bring Fortnite back to the App Store should it agree to follow the rules of the ecosystem. Sweeney claims that it turned around on this statement following the court’s ruling.

Just last week, Epic agreed with Apple that we would play by the same rules as everyone else. pic.twitter.com/WOxsbnAFXE

— Tim Sweeney (@TimSweeneyEpic) September 22, 2021

In a responding email, Apple made it clear that Fortnite and any other Epic Games title will be blacklisted from the Apple ecosystem until “the exhaustion of all court appeals.” Sweeney mentioned that this could be a five-year process.

After Epic broke signed agreements with Apple and took it to court over it, the latest decision reads like a final power play from Apple. The situation is likely to continue the ongoing drama between the two companies, which had been mostly squashed by the courts.

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