Epic Games asks the court to stop Apple from removing its games from the app store

Epic Games announced that it is trying to block the removal of Fortnite and its other games from the Apple App Store by going to court.

In a lawsuit, Epic CEO Timothy Sweeney said Fortnite had 350 million registered users as of June 2020, and Apple’s actions will prevent them from getting the updates they need to play the most popular game mode, Match. ” Battle Royale “, which includes up to 100 players, among whom the last survivor wins.

“Apple’s actions will break Fortnite for millions of existing players,” Sweeney said, adding that Epic updates the game every few weeks. “Since iOS users can no longer update the game, they will not be able to play Fortnite with most other players who will have the current version available on other platforms such as PC.”

The game maker also said that Apple will remove all Epic Games developer accounts and disconnect them from its development tools starting August 28.

In addition to creating its own games, Epic also creates tools for other game developers, such as the Unreal Engine, which helps game developers create 3D graphics. The tool is also used by medical imaging companies and car designers, as well as millions of other developers, Epic says. If Apple weaned Epic away from its development tools, the company won’t be able to offer the Unreal Engine for Mac and iPhone, which in turn will affect hundreds of games. Meanwhile, some games using the Unreal Engine like PUBG have hundreds of millions of players.

“The effects will go far beyond video games; this will affect developers who use Unreal Engine in Apple products in many areas, ”said Epic in a statement asking the court to issue a blocking order. According to Epic, “the impact on the viability of the Unreal Engine, as well as the credibility of the developers in this engine, cannot be offset by a cash bonus.”