The purpose of this initial hearing was to determine whether Apple’s Epic engineer should be legally retained during legal proceedings, thereby minimizing disruption to parts of Epic’s business.
Apple had said it would strip Epic of iOS and MacOS developer status if Epic did not remove the direct payment option from the Fortnite app. That is the payment method that led Apple to remove Fortnite from the App store as it violates Apple’s rules.
Judge Yvonne González Rogers did not make a final decision, but suggested that her immediate decision would keep Fortnite banned from the App Store but try to protect the wrong Epic engine.
He stated, “I do not want to offer any relief regarding the games, but I am accustomed to providing Unreal Engine-related assistance.”
While acknowledging Epic’s outrage at Apple’s action, evidenced by a viral video featuring a popular 1984 ad, Judge Rogers notes that Apple’s move to block Unreal Engine use “could make me look like revenge, and I don’t see that There is something wrong with Apple for stopping it from affecting Unreal Engine on that platform. ”
Apple’s approved action may be limited to removing Fortnite, a malicious application.
Summing up the difficult position he has in deciding which side should be considered right, Judge Roger added: “This is not something that is difficult in Apple or Epic games.”
Microsoft has recently said that its games, such as Forza Street, could suffer if the company did not have access to Epic’s Unreal Engine technology. Many games are powered by an engine, made by Epic via SDK.
