A judge just granted Epic Games a temporary restraining order against Apple but it is not what you think. The restraining order prevents Apple from retaliating against Epic Games and terminating developer accounts using the Unreal Engine. In short, Apple cannot stop developers using the Unreal Engine from hosting games on the App Store. However, Epic Games may be in a bit of trouble still for violating Apple’s terms of use in Fortnite.
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According to Judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers, Apple is in their right to ban Fornite from the App Store. In addition, the judge ruled that the company is not required to reinstate the game on the platform. The judge agreed that Epic Games created this predicament on their own and it is premeditated.
[perfectpullquote align=”full” bordertop=”false” cite=”” link=”” color=”#FF7712″ class=”” size=”21″]“The Court finds that with respect to Epic Games’ motion as to its games, including Fortnite, Epic Games has not yet demonstrated irreparable harm. The current predicament appears of its own making. Epic strategically chose to breach its agreements with Apple” [/perfectpullquote]
Judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers explained why she ruled that Apple cannot cut off access to the Unreal Engine. Rogers states that “Epic and Apple are at liberty to litigate against each other. However, their dispute should not create havoc to bystanders”. In addition, Rogers agrees with Epic that there is “potential significant damage to both the Unreal Engine platform itself and the gaming industry at risk” should Apple cut off developer accounts.
The current court ruling is only a temporary one to keep things from going south during this lawsuit. For now, Apple cannot cut off developer accounts if they use the Unreal Engine. However, they are not forced to reinstate Fortnite either and by the sound of things, won’t have to if they don’t want to. Expect the two partied to file their arguments in the coming weeks with a full hearing scheduled for 28 September 2020.
