Apple must resolve ‘Fortnite’ return or answer for it to judge

By Josh Sisco and Mark Gurman, Bloomberg

Apple Inc. will have to answer to a judge for refusing to restore Fortnite to its US App Store if it hasn’t resolved its standoff with Epic Games Inc. by May 27.

Epic’s chief executive officer had announced three weeks ago that his company’s flagship game would be resubmitted to App Store after the companies fought in court for almost five years. But Apple isn’t cooperating while it appeals the latest court ruling against it.

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“Apple is fully capable of resolving this issue without further briefing or a hearing,” US District Judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers in Oakland, California, wrote Monday in an order, adding that an Apple official will need to appear before her if she’s required to intervene.

The companies have been sparring since 2020, all the way to the US Supreme Court, over App Store fees on developers and other policies at Apple’s software marketplace. Apple’s removal from its store of the Fortnite app cut off access for more than a billion iPhone and iPad customers.

Epic declined to comment and a spokesperson for Apple didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment.

While Gonzalez Rogers didn’t explicitly say the app needs to be restored, there likely aren’t any alternatives that would satisfy the judge. She gave Apple until Wednesday to identify which of its executives will be “fully prepared to answer any questions on the topic.” The App Store is run by executive Phil Schiller, but the group also includes a business team run by Carson Oliver and an app review team run by Trystan Kosmynka.

Gonzalez Rogers dealt Apple a major setback on April 30 when she ruled the iPhone maker had violated a 2021 order by not opening up the App Store to third-party payment options and said it must stop charging commissions on purchases outside its marketplace.

Apple is asking an appeals court to put that ruling on hold while the company challenges it.

Separately, Epic on Friday accused Apple of removing Fortnite from third-party marketplaces in the European Union. Apple rejected the assertion.

In her April 30 ruling, Gonzalez Rogers said an Apple executive lied under oath and she referred the case to federal prosecutors to investigate whether Apple committed criminal contempt of court for flouting her 2021 ruling.

The case is Epic Games Inc. v. Apple Inc., 20-cv-05640, US District Court, Northern District of California (Oakland).

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