Apple blocks developer account Epic Games for App Store

Apple has blocked Epic Games’ App Store account, so that the latter’s games can no longer be found in the application store. Apple had already announced the move after the two parties fell apart over Fortnite.

Epic Games’ developer account for the App Store has been banned since Friday night. Although the publisher’s games can no longer be downloaded from the App Store, iOS users who already had them installed can continue to play. However, it is no longer possible to do microtransactions, and the latest season of Fortnite is also not playable.

In a response that Apple has sent to various media, the company indicates that it is disappointed with Epic Games. Because Epic did not want to abide by the rules, there was no choice but to delete the developer account, Apple said. The company hopes to be able to work with Epic again in the future.

The feud between Apple and Epic Games started after the latter released an update to the popular shooter game Fortnite, introducing a payment system that would avoid the mandatory 30 percent commission to Apple. That goes against App Store guidelines, after which Apple removed the game, and Epic then filed suit against Apple.

In a preliminary ruling, a judge said Apple may block Fortnite, but the developer account Epic owns for the Unreal engine should not be banned. This is a different account than the one used for Fortnite and other games. Regardless of the outcome of the eventual legal dispute, the judge said that third-party developer projects would be compromised if support for the Unreal Engine ceased. The account used for the Unreal Engine has therefore been left intact by Apple.

Epic has not yet commented extensively on the deletion of the developer account for Fortnite and other games, but has confirmed that it no longer has access to the account. Incidentally, CEO Tim Sweeney also states that access is not only blocked on iOS, but other developer accounts on Apple platforms would also be blocked.