App dispute
“Fortnite” disappears from the app stores again in Europe
The game “Fortnite” returned to the iPhone in the EU after years of absence. But a conflict about availability in the US app store ensures that it disappeared again.
The online game “Fortnite” is no longer available on iPhones in Europe because there is again a dispute between the developer company Epic Games and Apple. The trigger was an attempt by Epic to bring the app back to Apple’s app store in the USA after a court ruling.
The game company decided to present a uniform version for the US market and the European Union for Apple for examination. However, the iPhone group only wants to wait for further development in the long-term court dispute in the United States and did not leave the app in its American app store. Epic then announced that “Fortnite” would “remain offline worldwide” until Apple ceased the blockade.
Apple countered that no steps have been made against the previously available variant of the app in Europe. However, Epic was asked to do without the placement in the US app store in the new version so that “Fortnite” is not affected in other regions.
Court should “Fortnite” in US app store
Epic is now trying to achieve in court in California that Apple is forced to resume the app in the American App Store. A few weeks ago, the responsible judge had had that the iPhone group could not block developers just because they point out payment options outside of Apple’s in-house purchase system for purchases in the app. However, Apple had only pointed out when rejecting Epic that a return of “Fortnite” to the US store would only be dealt with after the end of the legal proceedings.
The conflict began in August 2020. Epic at the time, in the circumvention of the rules, a version of “Fortnite” in the App Store, in which users were able to buy digital articles past Apple’s purchase system directly from the game company. In the case of purchases via Apple’s platform, a tax of 30 percent is due to the group that wanted to bypass EPIC.
Apple then banished “Fortnite” from the App Store – and thus prevailed in court. In the EU, “Fortnite” came back to the iPhone via alternative app stores last year, which Apple had to allow according to the digital law DMA in addition to the own download platform.
dpa
Source: Stern
