A United States (US) judge has ordered Apple to explain why Fortnite remains blocked on Apple iOS despite rulings allowing it to return to the app store.
In the latest update to the ever-evolving saga that is Epic vs Apple, US District Court Judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers has demanded that Apple explain why it has yet to adhere to the recent injunction that would allow the game to return to iOS devices.
According to the court order, Apple has until May 21 to file a response as to why “Apple contents that it can ignore this Court’s order having not received a stay from the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeal”. Failure to respond by 5pm PT on the date will result in a hearing on May 27th at 9am PT where “the Apple official who is personally responsible for ensuring compliance shall personally appear”.
A post on social media on May 16 by the official Fortnite account claimed that Apple blocked the developer’s latest submission, preventing them from releasing the game to the US App Store or the Epic Games Store for iOS in the European Union. That meant that Fortnite would be “offline worldwide” on iOS until Apple unblocked it.
In a response to a question about the submission rejection from Apple, Epic Games CEO Tim Sweeney said that the company didn’t explicitly “accept or reject” the submission.
“They simply said they were going to ignore it until after the 9th Circuit Court rules on their stay request, which would be in late May or June,” he said.
What do you make of the continued legal drama between Apple and Epic Games over Fortnite and third-party app purchases on Apple iOS devices? Let us know down below, and join the discussion in the official Insider Gaming forums.
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Mike has been covering the gaming industry since 2012, and has reported on some of the largest events in the industry while also working as an investigative reporter. Outside of…
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