Apple Is Ready To Welcome Fortnite’s Return To iOS—If They Remove Direct Payment Option

Apple is gearing up to shut down the Epic Games developer account on August 28. In the ongoing legal battle between the two companies, Apple...

Apple is gearing up to shut down the Epic Games developer account on August 28. In the ongoing legal battle between the two companies, Apple does not intend to approve the "Fortnite" game update. This will have a major impact on Epic Games since the new Fornite season will begin on August 27 and iOS users will not be able to participate.

Epic Games sought a temporary restraining order from the court in Northern California to prohibit Apple from blocking Fortnite's update and terminating its developer account. However, following yesterday’s hearing, the judge made a decision in favor of Apple on the ruling. In a statement shared by Bloomberg, Apple appreciated the judge’s decision and stated that if Epic Games decides to cancel the direct payment option and restore the status quo, Apple is ready to welcome Fortnite’s return to the iOS platform.

While the judge allowed Apple to terminate the developer account of Epic Games on August 28, she restricted Apple from removing Unreal Engine development-related accounts and permissions. Apple must not revoke accounts owned by Epic International as it is an independent entity with Epic Games and has signed a separate contract with Apple.

During the hearing, Apple believed that the typical approach for developers who violated the rules was to terminate all related and linked accounts and the main account, but this did not shake the jury's ruling.

The judge made it clear that Epic Games has created the current situation and can reverse what has happened by "restoring it" and let the remaining disputes proceed in court.

At the hearing, Epic's lawyers claimed that Epic Games could not "return to the antitrust contract," but since it had clearly stated that it would not grant a restraining order to prevent Apple from continuing to block Fortnite, Epic could opt to comply with the App Store's rules by canceling the direct payment option that led to the entire incident and continuing to minimize the distinction between the two parties through legal means that do not directly affect customers.