Epic Asks Court to Reinstate Fortnite After Daily iOS Players Drop by 60%

Epic has once again made a move to try and get the court to reinstate Fortnite to Apple's App Store, as it has stated that, since its removal, daily iOS Fortnite players have dropped by over 60%. As reported by The Verge, Epic Games has filed a preliminary injunction against Apple that would force it to put Fortnite back on its App Store. The full hearing for this overall case had already been scheduled for September 28, but Epic is hoping to have Fortnite back in the hands of iOS players before then, at least until a verdict is reached. Judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers previously ruled that Apple did not have to put Fortnite back in its App Store as Epic hadn't proved any harm had been done and that Epic "strategically chose to breach its agreements with Apple." [ignvideo url="https://www.ign.com/videos/2020/08/13/fortnite-1984-apple-parody-video-short"] However, this latest filing argues that "daily active users on iOS have declined by over 60% since Fortnite's removal from the App Store." This date range also includes the start of the Marvel-themed Chapter 2 - Season 4 that iOS players were unable to join due to the lack of ability to update. Epic says that iOS is the biggest platform for Fortnite with over 116 million registered users, almost a third of its 350 million registered users. Furthermore, Epic claims 63% of Fortnite players on iOS only access Fortnite on Apple devices. Epic is worried it "may never see these users again" and that its Fortnite community has been "torn apart." Additionally, since Apple has terminated Epic's developer account, its other games, and those players looking to play those titles, are also impacted. It is also reads that Apple is threatening to deny any attempts by Epic to apply for a new developer account for "at least a year." This would be a big issue for Epic if it was "denied the opportunity to access even a single new users among the one-billion-plus iOS users for at least the next year." [widget path="global/article/imagegallery" parameters="albumSlug=games-that-came-back-from-the-brink-of-disaster&captions=true"] In a statement to The Verge on this matter, Apple referred them to a previously made comment:

"We are disappointed that we have had to terminate the Epic Games account on the App Store. We have worked with the team at Epic Games for many years on their launches and releases. The court recommended that Epic comply with the App Store guidelines while their case moves forward, guidelines they’ve followed for the past decade until they created this situation. Epic has refused. Instead they repeatedly submit Fortnite updates designed to violate the guidelines of the App Store. This is not fair to all other developers on the App Store and is putting customers in the middle of their fight. We hope that we can work together again in the future, but unfortunately that is not possible today."

Apple and Google removed Fortnite from their app stores following Epic's decision to alter the price of Fortnite V-Bucks and add a new direct payment system in response to Apple and Google's "exorbitant" app store fees. Epic responded by starting its #FreeFortnite campaign by hosting in-game events and parodying Apple's 1984 commercial. [ignvideo url="https://www.ign.com/videos/2020/08/31/ridley-scott-weighs-in-on-fortnites-apple-ad"] [poilib element="accentDivider"] Have a tip for us? Want to discuss a possible story? Please send an email to newstips@ign.com. Adam Bankhurst is a news writer for IGN. You can follow him on Twitter @AdamBankhurst and on Twitch.