"Fortnite" Remains Locked Out At Apple

In the dispute with the US technology company Apple, the video game developer Epic Games suffered another setback in court. The Californian district judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers rejected in a decision published an urgent motion by the developer with which they wanted to force the resumption of his popular "Fortnite" game in the Apple App Store. The losses that Epic Games suffered from being excluded from the App Store were a "self-inflicted wound," said the judge. The game developer could bring "Fortnite" back to the App Store by using Apple's payment system. There is no reason for an urgent decision before the actual process, emphasized the judge. This will probably not start before July next year. The dispute between Apple and the "Fortnite" makers had ignited in mid-August when Epic Games had released an update that was supposed to cancel taxes on Apple as well as on Google. The move sparked a debate about the extent to which large platforms should determine the rules of the digital world. Apple charges 30 percent of the revenue that app programmers generate on the company's platforms. After the update, the company immediately removed "Fortnite" from its app store. Rogers had previously submitted settlement proposals. As a compromise proposal, she brought up the idea that until a decision is made, the 30 percent should not go to Apple but to an escrow account. The Epic lawyers were skeptical because it would not change Apple's competitive position. The judge criticized Epic for secretly introducing its own payment system. At the same time, she asked Apple why the levy should be 30 percent - and not 10, 15 or 20 percent.