Fortnite Billionaire Says Apple ‘Lied’ as It Blacklists Game
Billionaire Tim Sweeney thought Fortnite would finally return to the App Store after his company paid Apple $6 million. Apple had other ideas.
Philip Pacheco/Getty Images
Tim Sweeney thought his battle with Apple was finally ending, after his video game company, Epic Games, paid the tech giant $6 million as part of a recent court decision. Epic had sued Apple in 2020 over alleged anti-competitive behavior, after its marquee franchise, Fortnite, was booted from the App Store when Epic tried to charge fees to users directly. Apple normally takes a 30 percent cut of transactions. This summer, a court handed down a mixed verdict in the case, but it seemed like Fortnite was on its way to getting re-listed. Apple had other ideas. On Tuesday, the company notified Epic that it will not reinstate the game “until the district court’s judgment becomes final and non-appealable.”
“Apple lied,” Sweeney tweeted on Wednesday, adding that the appeals process could drag out for another five years. “Apple has reneged in another abuse of its monopoly power over a billion users.”
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