In response to Apple’s plan to crack down on Epic more broadly, Epic is now taking additional legal action. On Monday, the gaming company filed for a temporary restraining order and preliminary injunction against Apple. If approved, the court orders could prevent Apple from de-listing Fortnite from its app store. Epic argued that without the injunction, it is likely to suffer irreparable harm from Apple’s business practices.
In a statement, Apple said the issue is one that “Epic has created for itself.”
“Epic has been one of the most successful developers on the App Store, growing into a multibillion dollar business that reaches millions of iOS customers around the world,” Apple said in the statement. “We very much want to keep the company as part of the Apple Developer Program and their apps on the Store.”
Apple added that the situation could “easily be remedied if they submit an update of their app that reverts it to comply with the guidelines they agreed to and which apply to all developers. We won’t make an exception for Epic because we don’t think it’s right to put their business interests ahead of the guidelines that protect our customers.”
The wider legal battle could change how app stores work across the digital economy, and serve as a potential turning point for the two leading app store operators, who are already under scrutiny from regulators for their market dominance broadly.