Epic is asking District Judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers to order Apple to review — and approve if compliant with Apple’s guidelines — Epic’s submission of Fortnite to the US App Store in a new court filing.
Following Gonzalez Rogers’ decision in April, Epic said Fortnite would return to the US App Store.
But instead of Apple approving Fortnite in the US, the game disappeared from the EU App Store.
Epic claimed that was because it can’t release in the EU because of Apple’s decision to block its US submission.
9to5Mac writes that the judge would likely need to agree that Apple is once again in contempt of court, as she did in her April 30th ruling.
In a recent court document, Epic is requesting that District Judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers direct Apple to examine its submission of Fortnite to the US App Store and grant approval if it complies with Apple’s rules. According to the company’s document, Apple is once again in violation of the judge’s April order that forbade it from rejecting apps because they used external payment sites.
Epic posted a letter from Apple late Friday, stating that the company will not “take action on the Fortnite app submission until after the Ninth Circuit rules on our pending request for a partial stay of the new injunction.”. “In its filing, Epic argues that the delay is retaliation for its legal battle with the company and that Apple “expressly and repeatedly” told it and the court that it would approve Fortnite if the app complied with Apple’s guidelines, which it insists its current submission does.”.
Epic announced that Fortnite would be back in the US App Store after Gonzalez Rogers’ ruling in April. The business has since submitted the game twice, most recently to add content from a game update for the EU. However, Fortnite vanished from the EU App Store rather than being approved by Apple in the US.
Epic stated that the reason for this was that Apple’s decision to reject its US submission prevented it from being released in the EU. Apple claimed that in order to “avoid affecting Fortnite in other regions,” it had only requested that the app be resubmitted without the US storefront. But Epic says that would require it to submit multiple versions of the app, which is against Apple’s rules, in a post announcing its new filing.
Apple is being found in contempt once more, and Epic is requesting that the court enforce its injunction and order the company to “accept any compliant Epic app, including Fortnite, for distribution on the U.S.”. S. . access to the App Store. “.”.
The problem with this case is that, despite discovering in her 2021 ruling that Epic had still willfully breached its developer agreement with Apple, Judge Gonzalez Rogers hasn’t gone so far as to order Fortnite to be returned to the store. According to 9to5Mac, the judge would probably have to concur that Apple is in contempt of court once more, just as she did in her decision from April 30. The distinction between now and then, as well as what might be advantageous to Epic, is how irritated she appeared to be with Apple in the ruling’s text.
The Verge’s request for comment from Apple was not immediately answered.
