In the early days of the Apple vs. Epic Games legal battle, Apple banned the Epic Games developer account and all of Epic's titles, like Fortnite, disappeared from the App Store. Epic Games' U.S. developer account has been banned for almost five years now, so when Epic said last week that it would bring Fortnite back to the App Store in the U.S., it wasn't clear how that would work.
Epic Games CEO Tim Sweeney said over the weekend (via The Verge) that Epic will use its Epic Games Sweden account to submit Fortnite to the App Store in the U.S. Apparently, Sweeney has spoken to Apple about the issue, and based on his wording, it sounds like Apple could allow the plan, but he did not say that he has explicit approval from Apple.
We have conversed with Apple on the topic and will use our Epic Games Sweden account to submit Fortnite to the US App Store. We created this account last year to launch Epic Games Store and Fortnite in the European Union, and Apple required an EU-domiciled account.
After Apple was required to support alternative app marketplaces in the European Union under the Digital Markets Act, Epic Games created an account based in Sweden in order to launch the Epic Games Store. Apple initially shut down Epic Games' EU developer account due to Epic's pattern of untrustworthy behavior, but that didn't last. Apple's statement from when it banned the EU account:
Epic's egregious breach of its contractual obligations to Apple led courts to determine that Apple has the right to terminate "any or all of Epic Games' wholly owned subsidiaries, affiliates, and/or other entities under Epic Games' control at any time and at Apple's sole discretion." In light of Epic's past and ongoing behavior, Apple chose to exercise that right.
Epic Games claimed that Apple was violating the Digital Markets Act by not allowing it to create an alternative app marketplace in Europe, and the European Union started questioning Apple. Apple ultimately reinstated the account after Epic Games promised to follow the alternative marketplace rules, and Apple avoided issue with EU regulators.
The outcome of the Apple vs. Epic Games dispute in the U.S. resulted in Apple not having to reinstate the U.S. Epic Games account, and it sounds like Apple still has no plan to do so. Apple could object to Epic Games trying to return Fortnite to the App Store using the Swedish account, but given that Apple is already facing the wrath of the judge overseeing the case, it may not want to attract further attention.
Epic Games CEO Tim Sweeney offered a "peace proposal" to Apple last week, claiming that if Apple extends its "Apple-tax-free" framework worldwide, Epic would return Fortnite to the App Store and drop current and future litigation. So far, Apple has given no sign that it will implement the App Store link and payment changes outside of the United States.
Apple is now required to allow developers to add links and buttons to their apps directing customers to purchase options outside of the App Store.
Sweeney said that Epic Games is working "as hard as possible" to return Fortnite to the App Store, but that he doesn't yet know when it will be ready to launch.
