Apple Will Not Reinstate Epic’s Fortnite Developer Account

> Epic will resubmit Fortnite to the App Store if you adhere to the plain language of the court order and allow apps to include buttons and external links that direct customers to other purchasing mechanisms without onerous terms or impediments to a good user experience.

That seems very reasonable, why wouldn't Apple be forced to comply with the court order?

Apple is complying with court rulings, including the judgment that Apple's contract with Epic is valid and enforceable. Apple could hypothetically ban all of Epic's accounts forever, but only the Fortnite account is banned. This appears to be a win for... payment vendors.

At this point Epic can only hope for legislative action.

Also on the "reasonableness" of Epic's promises... I'm not sure why making a pinky promise in a non-legal setting is any more serious than a legal contract they already choose to break.

Oh poor epic, I am so saddened by their mistreatment.

Is epic succeeding in their narrative as a poor little mistreated company sticking it to the man?

I care very little about godzilla vs king kong lawyer fights.

It's interesting to compare the situation Epic got itself into with previous episodes of Facebook & Google breaking Apple's rules.

When Facebook and Google misused Developer Enterprise certificates to go beyond internal testing and distribute apps to end-consumers, Apple revoked their accounts. Both Facebook & Google simply admitted they screwed up and Apple reinstated their accounts.[1] No lawsuits.

Epic broke Apple's in-app-purchase rules and now Epic promises they will comply but Epic didn't get their dev account reinstated yet. Big difference is that Epic rolled the dice by filing a lawsuit about Apple's unfair rules and because they thought there was enough anti-Apple sentiment that they'd get a sympathetic judgement in their favor. Their gamble didn't work and in the process, Tim Sweeny's defiant attitude just made Apple dig in their heels even further.

I'm reminded of that quote, "you come at the King, you best not miss."

EDIT reply to some comments saying Epic didn't make a "promise" to comply with Apple's rules:

>Did i miss something where they actually said that?

In this thread's Fireball blogpost is a link to Tim Sweeney's tweet of an email screenshot to Apple's Phil Schiller stating his "promise":

>Sep 16, 2021 at 5:01 PM; Subject: Fortnite and the App Store; To: Phil Schiller

>[..] Epic promises that it will adhere to Apple’s guidelines whenever and wherever we release products on Apple platforms.[...]

[1] https://www.google.com/search?q=apple+reinstates+google+face...

Of course, but Epic's bottom line isn't necessarily mutually exclusive to the interests of users or developers.