'Fortnite' is offline on iOS around the world

After winning a tribunal lawsuit pretty decisively against Apple, developer Epic submitted Fortnite to the US App Store and suggested it would soon beryllium backmost connected iOS. However, according to the Fortnite team, Apple has blocked the crippled connected some the US App Store and the EU's iOS mentation of its ain Epic Games Store.

Fortnite had been disposable connected iPhones successful Europe since August past year owed to EU rules that let third-party iOS stores.

Epic CEO Tim Sweeney suggested that Apple didn't person immoderate peculiar crushed to garbage the application. "Apple’s App Review squad should beryllium escaped to reappraisal each submitted apps promptly and judge oregon cull according to the plain connection of their guidelines," helium tweeted. "App Review shouldn’t beryllium weaponized by elder absorption arsenic a instrumentality to hold oregon obstruct competition, owed process, oregon escaped speech." Apple has yet to remark connected the matter.

To recap: this full kerfuffle betwixt Apple and Epic has been over, essentially, rent-seeking, and who gets to nett from it. Apple thinks it should support getting a chopped of income done its App Store; Epic, naturally, would similar to support lining its ain pockets. This combat initially opened up the enactment for developers to usage third-party app stores for iOS apps, though a information of their income were inactive flowing backmost to Apple's coffers. The astir caller tribunal ruling attempted to close that evident loophole.

The latest Fortnite mentation submitted by Epic included outgo systems for Apple on with outer outgo via Epic's ain store. Fortnite was primitively banned from the App Store successful 2020 aft it submitted a mentation that included an outer outgo strategy that violated Apple's rules astatine the clip — a determination subsequently backed by a court decision successful 2021. To that end, Apple whitethorn not beryllium legally obligated to reinstate Epic, contempt the information that the regularisation primitively breached by the developer nary longer existed.

This combat is, of course, ongoing. Apple appealed the astir caller ruling and asked the tribunal to halt App Store changes until a last determination is made.