Judge Blocks Apple From Shutting Down Epic’s Unreal Engine

A federal judge on Monday ordered Apple to not shut down Epic’s Unreal Engine which is used by thousands of other game developers, but also decided that Apple won’t be required to bring back the world-famous game Fortnite which was removed from the App Store following the introduction of Epic’s direct payment system that bypassed the 30% commission Apple collects from in-app purchases. 

‘’The Court finds that with respect to Epic Games’ motion as to its games, including Fortnite, Epic Games has not yet demonstrated irreparable harm. The current predicament appears of its own making.’’ Judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers wrote in a ruling on Monday.  

‘’The record shows potential significant damage to both the Unreal Engine platform itself, and to the gaming industry generally, including on both third-party developers and gamers.’’she said and added that even the Fortnite-maker violated Apple’s App Store’s guidelines, it didn’t breach any contracts related to Unreal Engine and Apple’s developer tools.

‘’Apple has chosen to act severely, and by doing so, has impacted non-parties, and a third-party developer ecosystem.’’

According to The Verge, the ruling was limited in scope. Apple and Epic Games are expected to file their arguments in the upcoming weeks, with a full hearing on the injunction scheduled for September 28th.