Epic Games Reveals Fortnite App Store Ban Could Last a Year

Epic Games has today revealed in a court filing against Apple that Fortnite’s Apple Store ban may continue for at least a year, The Guardian is reporting. Epic’s latest legal filing asks the court to force Apple to allow the game back on the App Store ahead of a wider lawsuit hearing.

Fortnite

Epic’s court documents note the company is “likely to suffer irreparable harm” if the App Store ban continues since it has over 116 million registered users on Apple devices, who are now unable to update the software or reinstall it once deleted.

The filing also shows that Apple has warned Epic it will deny the company’s reapplication to the Apple Developer Program for at least a year considering the nature of its acts.

The year-long ban means there is little chance of Fortnite returning to the App Store before the conclusion of the full court hearing, which begins at the end of this month and could last up to a year itself, unless the company wins a preliminary injunction it filed on Friday.

Previously, Apple’s position had been that Epic could restore its access immediately if it removed the unauthorized payment system it had built into Fortnite.

Meanwhile, Epic is asking its users to update their Epic Games account email address and password so they can continue to log in after Apple ends “Sign In with Apple” support for Epic Games accounts.

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