Epic Games recently resubmitted Fortnite to the Apple App Store for their iOS devices, following their win against Apple in a courtroom battle surrounding Apple’s approach towards microtransactions and fees on developers. Despite seemingly following all the new guidelines put on them, the official Fortnite account has just revealed that Apple has blocked Fortnite‘s submission to be on the App Store.
It’s a shocking turn of events, as Epic Games were very confident they’d have Fortnite on iOS ready to go by today, planning to drop simultaneously with their latest content update. Their previous submission request was left completely ignored for over 100 hours, and Apple chose the messiest route by waiting until today to deny their submission – the day they’d been waiting for to unify all of their platforms.
We don’t know exactly why Apple is still blocking Fortnite, but perhaps they will use Epic’s 2020 violation of App Store rules as an excuse to shut them out, even if these rules have now been forced to change by law. According to Tim Sweeney, the founder and CEO of Epic Games, he believes the App Review process has been “weaponized by senior management as a tool to delay or obstruct competition”. We don’t have any response from Apple yet, but we’re sure that more news will follow from either Apple or Epic Games elaborating on the block and what’s next for Fortnite on iOS.
Were you waiting to see Fortnite return to iOS devices today? When do you think Apple will let Fortnite return to the App Store, if ever? Let us know your thoughts in the comments down below, and keep your eyes on GameLuster for more breaking news and Fortnite coverage.
