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Epic can continue to support Unreal Engine on Mac and iOS for nowThough the lawfight’s far from over
Though the lawfight’s far from over
While Epic and Apple’s legal battle over app stores isn’t due in court until next year, one important matter is settled for now: Epic will get the keep the Apple developer accounts which let them update and maintain Unreal Engine on Mac and iOS. Apple had threatened to disable those too, not just the accounts Epic use for Fortnite, until a judge approved Epic’s appeal fora temporary restraining order. That’s now settled for longer thanks to a preliminary injunction issued on Friday. But the judge also held firm in her decision not to force Apple to let Fortnite back on iThings. Everyone’s a winner, everyone’s a loser.
She also noted that Apple later threatening to close dev accounts Epic use for Unreal, after starting with the Fortnite ones, “appears to be retaliatory”. And she said there was no evidence behind Apple’s weird claim that if they didn’t, Epic could slip secret code into Unreal Engine. “Further,” she observed, “to do so would be tactically disastrous for Epic Games and its affiliates as it would prove Apple’s point with respect to its need to maintain its walled garden or closed platform to protect iOS consumers against security attacks.” Good grasp of common sense, this judge.
And as before, Gonzalez Rogers does not agree that it’s in the public interest for Apple to be forced to accept Fortnite back on iOS, and declined Epic’s request to order that.
She said the court “has empathy for Fortnite players”, especially considering that video games and virtual worlds “are both social and safe” and we’re in a pandemic. “However, there is significant public interest in requiring parties to adhere to their contractual agreements or in resolving business disputes through the normal course,” she said. “Thus, the public interest factor weighs in favour of Apple as to Fortnite.”
She also noted that the court shouldn’t be making hasty decisions “regarding the impact of the walled garden model given the potential for significant and serious ramifications for Sony, Nintendo and Microsoft and their video game platforms.”
Epic said in their semi-victory statement that they “will pursue all avenues to end Apple’s anti-competitive behaviour.” Apple’s own semi-celebration boasted about the “economic miracle” the App Store has enabled and said they “look forward to sharing this legacy of innovation and dynamism with the court next year.” Goodness me, they’re all going to be insufferable.
