Unreal Engine Saved, but Apple Picks the First Win

The Epic Vs Apple saga looks to be coming to a close. Apple has won the first battle as the court denied Epic’s request to get Fortnite back on the App Store immediately.

No clear winner in Epic Vs Apple court battle

As reported by Bloomberg, U.S. District Judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers gave a mixed ruling that saw both companies gain something.

The Judge ordered Apple not block access to Unreal Engine. The court’s decision will favor a vast majority of iOS developers who are reliant on the technology.

Many games are developed on Unreal tech. Apple’s decision to deny access to it would have affected all those games and developers.

“Apple has chosen to act severely, hurting third-party developers who use Epic’s technology platform.

“Epic Games and Apple are at liberty to litigate against each other, but their dispute should not create havoc to bystanders.”

Microsoft recently came out in support of Epic for the very same reason.

Developing a game on two different platforms, using different technology is not cost effective. Microsoft, being wise to this, picked Epic’s side in the battle. Losing out on Unreal Engine would cost them when developing titles and this is something they wanted to avoid.

What led to the clash?

The battle sparked when Epic introduced a new payment mode on Fortnite mobile. This implementation would have denied Apple its 30% cut on in-app purchases. Hence, they responded by removing Fortnite from App Store, stating that the alternative method of payment was neither reviewed nor approved by them.

Epic Games followed up with a lawsuit against Apple and Google.

A few days back, Apple released a statement saying Epic CEO Tim Sweeney was looking to cut a special deal with them. Sweeney put it all to rest when he came forth on Twitter to clear the rumours. Things have been going back and forth ever since.

The next hearing will be held on September 28th.