The ongoing Epic Games and Apple controversy took its first hearing in court on Monday August 24 and the audit was against Fortnite. Although the preliminary hearing (via MacRumors) ended indefinitely, Judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers indicated that the Fortnite ban would remain in place until Epic changes the new payment system that Apple’s App Store tax eliminates Was designed for
Judge Rogers said he is “unwilling to grant relief in relation to the games” meaning the court would not likely force Apple to reinstate the App Store in its current state. However, it called Apple’s decision to block Epic’s developer access and thereby limit its ability to operate on unrealistic engines “retaliatory”.
“I am inclined to grant relief in relation to the Unreal Engine,” commented Judge Rogers. “It looks vengeful to me, and there’s no harm to Apple to prevent me from affecting the unrealistic engine on that platform. It looks like an overreach to me.”
Apple’s lawyer claimed that down the road, Epic could also transfer “misconduct” to its other entities such as “Unreal Engine”. Epic Games argued in its defense that Apple’s clampdown was already hurting the unrealistic engine business as developers began running away from the platform.
Unreal Engine is a gaming platform widely adopted by third-party developers. Last week, Microsoft, which hired Unreal Engine for its mobile racing title Forza Street, released a statement expressing support for Epic Games. The move was filed in court by Kevin Gamil, Microsoft’s general manager for the gaming developer’s experiences “will harm Kevin Gameill”.
The Fortney ban, Judge Rogers said, was Epic Games’ own fault, however, and it was a “strategic and calculated move” to Apple’s policies. Judge Rogers suggested that Epic Games switch the way on August 3 and “return everyone back to where they were.”
We’ve reached out to Epic Games and Apple and we’ll update the story when we hear back.
“Your customer created a situation. Your client does not come to this court with clean hands. Epic took a strategic and calculated move and decided to breach just before a new season. In my view, when you harm yourself, you cannot cause irreparable harm.
In response, Katherine Forrest, who represents Epic, stated that coming back to the status quo is like asking ” [Epic Games] In a competitive environment, consumers are required to pay more “and this is something that is not required and required by law.”
Judge Rogers said he would soon issue a temporary order and hold another hearing on 28 September to discuss a long-term solution.
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