Apple to Terminate all Epic Games Developer Accounts on August 28 as War Escalates

Epic Games has just revealed on Twitter that on Friday, August 28, Apple will be terminating all of Epic’s developer accounts and cut the Fortnite developer off from iOS and Mac development tools. Epic Games says it has filed a court order to stop Apple’s retaliation.

Apple removed Fortnite from the App Store and has informed Epic that on Friday, August 28 Apple will terminate all our developer accounts and cut Epic off from iOS and Mac development tools. We are asking the court to stop this retaliation. Details here: https://t.co/3br1EHmyd8

— Epic Games Newsroom (@EpicNewsroom)

August 17, 2020

Last week, Epic Games launched its own direct payment system in Fortnite to bypass Apple’s App Store, which resulted in Apple pulling the game from its App Store. Fireworks quickly ensued, with Epic Games filing papers to sue Apple.

The Fortnite developer has filed lawsuits against both Apple and Google, citing the tech companies’ “oppressive” tax on the sale of every app, and likened Apple to a “behemoth seeking to control markets, block competition, and stifle innovation.”

While Apple had previously stated it is looking forward to working with Epic to resolve the violations and restore the game in the App Store, things seem to have taken a sharp turn in the ongoing war and so far, the Cupertino tech giant clearly has the upper hand.