What you need to know
- Epic Games has asked Apple to reinstate its developer account.
- Apple has replied with a firm "no".
- The company says it would welcome Epic's return "if they agree to play by the same rules as everyone else."
Apple says that it would welcome the return of Epic Games to the App Store on iOS, and the return of games like Fortnite to devices like iPhone 12, but only if the company "plays by the same rules as everyone else," in response to Epic's request for the reinstatement of its developer account.
In a statement to iMore Apple said:
"As we've said all along, we would welcome Epic's return to the App Store if they agree to play by the same rules as everyone else. Epic has admitted to breach of contract and as of now, there's no legitimate basis for the reinstatement of their developer account."
Apple offered further information regarding its reasons for rejecting Epic's request, which it has made in anticipation of new laws in South Korea that will let developers use alternative payment methods when charging for in-app purchases. The company says that in order to have its developer account reinstated, the first step to getting Fortnite back on the App Store, Epic would have to agree to a minimum requirement that it comply with Apple's App Store Review Guidelines for all of its apps that use Apple's tools and APIs, etc. Apple says Epic has consistently refused to do this in the past and hasn't indicated that it plans to change its mind, and that the company isn't willing to consider any requests without reassurance.
Apple further noted a court ruling in the Epic Games vs Apple case denying a request to undo Apple's ban of the Epic Games developer account and says the circumstances that led to this ruling haven't changed. It also noted that the court supported Apple's view that Epic had breached its contract, and that its request for reinstatement flew in the face of its own admission that if the court rejected Epic's affirmative defenses in the case that Apple's termination of its agreement with Epic was lawful.
As noted the request was made in advance of news laws coming into effect in South Korea that will stop companies like Apple from mandating the use of their own in-app payment systems. However, Apple says that the law isn't effective yet and that once it kicks in Apple still wouldn't be obliged to approve Epic's request, or that of any developer, for reinstatement of an account that was terminated prior to the law coming into effect, essentially, because the saga all took place before the law had been passed.
According to Apple, Epic stated in a letter that it was seeking to "notify" Apple it would be using some of Apple's SDKs, software, and testing services, but that this is not lawful without a valid license, as is using Apple testing services like TestFlight.
The response is likely to irk Tim Sweeney and Epic Games, the company's CEO took to Twitter noting "Korean law explicitly prohibits mobile app stores from requiring developers use their payment system for in-app purchases. Apple removed Fortnite from the iOS App Store in retaliation for Epic using our own payment system, a practice that's now barred."
It seems that "now barred" could be the kicker here, with Apple asserting the new law in South Korea doesn't change its outlook on the fact Epic Games breached its contract with the company before the law ever existed. We've reached out to Epic Games for an official response on the matter.
