Epic Games in their Fight against Apple has won a temporary restraining order, even if it is only in part.
Most of us are aware of the battle going on against Epic, Apple, and Google surrounding the removal of Fortnite from both platforms. Apple has announced their intention to remove the unreal engine as well and this has sparked immediate action from Epic, taking this matter to court.
Effective immediately, Apple is not allowed to retaliate against Epic Games by terminating the company’s Apple developer accounts or even restricting the use of Epics Unreal Engine in any form.
The legal battle happened via a virtual zoom conference and the Judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers said “I am not inclined to grant relief with respect to the games but I am inclined to grant relief with respect to the Unreal Engine.”
Epic told the court that some developers had already left the Unreal Engine and that this was not “Speculative” but that “it is happening now”. Apple’s lawyer Richard Doren, has defended Apple’s move by citing Apple’s long-standing App Store policies for responding to developers who breach contracts. saying the Fortnite game developer has created its own problems and Epics actions are putting the “entire App Store model at risk”.
Apple’s Executive Phil Schiller said that Epic’s CEO Tim Sweeney had asked for a “special deal with the only Epic that would fundamentally change the way in which Epic offers apps on Apple’s iOS platform”.
Tim Sweeney defended this by taking to twitter and stating that in his email he said “We hope that Apple will also make these options equally available to all iOS developers…”

During the virtual hearing, the Judge said that Apple’s move against the Unreal Engine “seems like an overreach”. While she was inclined to grant a temporary order with respect to the unreal engine, she wasn’t sympathetic with Epic when it came to Fortnite as she told Epics lawyer that pic had created the situation themselves. She stated: “in my view, you cannot have irreparable harm when you create the harm yourself.”
It is no secret that Epic’s CEO Tim Sweeney has long been a critic of Apple’s store policies when it comes to in-app purchases. Well, it seems his actions have left a bad taste in many a mouth, even if he has won a temporary reprieve what will be the next step in this bitter battle Epic has found itself in against multiple platforms.