There has been another new development in the Godzilla vs Kong of video games, Apple vs Epic Games.

According to the CEO of Epic Games, Tim Sweeney, Apple has effectively banned Fortnite from the App Store for the next five years. 

He revealed this information today in a social media post, stating that Apple rejected Epic’s request to reinstate its developer program account. 

The letter from Apple reportedly went on to state that it would not reinstate Epic’s account until the verdict by the judge is final and non-appealable, which could take as long as five years.

This comes after a major decision by the courts. 

What exactly was decided is something that we think is worth understanding well, so let’s break it down.

Apple used to do this thing where they would ban linking to and even mentioning third party payment mechanisms. In other words, the only way for apps on the App Store to make money was through Apple’s payment mechanisms, which these apps must pay Apple to use.

Epic did not take this well and accused Apple of anti-competitive behavior, going as far as to call it a monopoly. They also did a whole thing where they, a multibillion dollar corporation, tried to market themselves as the underdog against an oppressive and authoritarian Apple.

Another even worse idea they had was to defy Apple’s policies on purpose and link to third party payment mechanisms. 

This led to Apple removing Fortnite from the App Store and to this hugely public fight in court. 

This story ended with a happy note for us, the actual human beings who are usually crushed under the boots of both companies. Both companies lost something important to them.

First, let’s look at what Epic lost. Epic will have to pay Apple USD 6 million in fines. 

In Apple’s case, they technically won the lawsuit by “proving” that they were not a monopoly or anti-competitive BUT they must now open their doors to third party payment methods, meaning that they just suffered a potentially permanent reduction in profits.

And now, Apple has kicked Fortnite off the platform for up to five years seemingly out of spite.

We at Emmen Gaming are really enjoying covering this story. It is a public grudge match between two juggernauts of the modern corporate world. At the same time, it’s also like an extremely public and messy celebrity break up.

We look forward to seeing what new twists and turns are coming up in our new favorite soap opera.