Apple Denies Blocking 'Fortnite' From EU Stores in Epic Dispute

Apple and Epic Games sparred over whether the iPhone maker was obstructing access to the hit game Fortnite, the latest tussle in a long-running feud over Apple's control of game distribution revenue. From a report: The game developer said that Apple "blocked" its latest Fortnite app submission so that it can't be released in the US or on the third-party Epic Games Store in the EU.

"Now, sadly, Fortnite on iOS will be offline worldwide until Apple unblocks it," the company wrote on its X account. An Apple spokesperson responded later on Friday, saying that the company "did not take any action to remove the live version of Fortnite from alternative distribution marketplaces" in the EU. Apple said that it asked the game company's European division, Epic Sweden, to "resubmit the app update without including the US storefront of the App Store so as not to impact Fortnite in other geographies."

blocking when set to all zones but will not block

[Joe_Dragon]

blocking when set to all zones but will not block when set to EU only?

Re: blocking when set to all zones but will not bl

[ArmoredDragon]

Not exactly blocked. This is apple's modus operandi. Outright blocking is the first step, and if they think they can't get away with it (for any reason, legal or otherwise) then they do a pocket veto.

Despite tactics like this finally blowing up in their faces recently, they've still learned nothing. Or perhaps they simply aren't yet convinced that they have to obey any laws. Their appeal is a total crapshoot, but I think they're hoping for a miracle handed to them by a politician, kind of like that time whe

Re:

[sentiblue]

Obama didn't give them free pass to ignore Samsung's patents. Samsung did win the suit. What they did wrong is that they asked the court to ban selling Apple products in the US. The court gave the order to ban US products on US soil. Obama signed an executive order to vacate that ruling. Obama's message was clear: Samsung is a guest in the US. We will not allow them to ban our products in our own country. No other foreign company ever tried something like that ever again since. That message wasn't just for

Re:

[sentiblue]

Here's the 2013 article talking about how Obama vetoed the ITC's ban on Apple products https://archive.nytimes.com/bi... [nytimes.com]

Re: blocking when set to all zones but will not b

[ArmoredDragon]

What they did wrong is that they asked the court to ban selling Apple products in the US. The court gave the order to ban US products on US soil.

How very naive of you, not to mention wrong. That was in fact an import ban. Iphones are, as a matter of law, a product of China.

https://jolt.law.harvard.edu/d... [harvard.edu]

The same kind that the same court had previously issued against Samsung under very similar circumstances during the same period, only Obama didn't veto that one.

Samsung is a guest in the US. We will not allow them to ban our products in our own country.

That's not the reasoning at all. There's no legal basis for anything you're claiming here. In fact Apple was definitely acting in bad faith here. Just like they did with Massimo and ended u

Re:

[tlhIngan]

Because of EU rules, Apple is forced to sign it so you can distribute it on other app stores. You know, the law and all that.

If you decide to go with all zones, then it's Apple's rules and such. If your app is approved by Apple, you can then submit it to the alternative stores in the EU and distribute it via Apple App Stores outside the EU.

If you mark it EU only then it'll just be signed for you to distribute yourself (unless you really want Apple to approve it for their App Store).

Likely they should submit

Better subject is a pun

[Supp0rtLinux]

Would be better to headline as "Apple Denies Blocking 'Fortnite' From EU Stores in epic Epic Dispute"

Someone's lying

[Sebby]

The first story [slashdot.org] states:

Epic Games CEO Tim Sweeney said Thursday that Apple has "neither accepted nor rejected" Fortnite's second App Store submission

seemingly because they heard nothing back from Apple and were still waiting on Apple, and yet now Apple states it:

"did not take any action to remove the live version of Fortnite from alternative distribution marketplaces"

Did Apple only now suddenly stop being silent (most likely) because its silence made the news that make it (justifiably) look bad?

Re:

[thegarbz]

Good question? Who do we trust here? The anticompetitive psychos who demonstrate they do anything to control a platform? Or the habitual liar who purposefully disregarded the contract with his partner firm and is only able to successfully bitch and moan on Twitter?

Re:

[Sebby]

WHERE IS MY LAWSUIT TROLL??

Weenie feels special

[sentiblue]

If he would have just be like anybody else, there wouldn't have been such a years long debacle, only to win and can't do shit about it. Sweeney has a small weenie, that's why he's acting out. He feels special that's why he thought he had the right that nobody else had. Based alone on the fact that he unilaterally changed payment to his own cc processing at the beginning, Apple had every right to ban Fortnite. It doesn't mean shit if they won the ruling because his act was in violation of an agreement that w

Re:

[bill_mcgonigle]

C'mon, Cook - you were found to be doing illegal shit in the EU and Sweeney took the dispute to the Courts, as is the norm in Western societies. He was proven correct.

You should comply with the law or give up your corporate shield.

Epic web redirect is still going to the US

[ceview]

when I checked epicgames.se it seems to redirect back to the US version https://www.epicgames.com/site/en-US/epicgamessweden which is probably an issue, It should stay on a .se server, something like store.epicgames.se . and on that page it jus goes to the US http://epic.download/ page. I suspect that's what might be the problem.