Just before midnight Friday before Labor Day weekend – we’re curious about the timing – Epic Games pushed the button for its next lawsuit against Apple’s ban on hugely popular Fortnite…
There was no question that Epic would file a preliminary injunction against Apple in an attempt to force the iPhone maker Fortnite back to the App Store – hearings were already set for September 28th. But now you can read the full argument of the company (here is the pdf; it’s also embedded below) and decide if you think Judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers might be inclined to change.
You may remember that Judge Rogers was no longer wishes to issue a temporary restraining order against Apple to protect Epic’s games, in part because Epic did not prove that it was actually harmed, and in part because the judge felt that Epic “strategically chose to violate its agreements with Apple” and therefore was at least partially to blame.
But in the new documentation, Epic claims it’s not just its reputation that has suffered: “Daily active iOS users have dropped more than 60% since Fortnite was removed from the App Store,” Epic said. (In case you’re wondering, this was measured prior to September 2; by then Fortnite effectively split into two different games.)
Epic says iOS is the largest platform for Fortnitetoo: 116 million registered users, or nearly a third of 350 million registered users, according to Epic Fortnite attracted everything. He also claims that 63 percent of Fortnite iOS users only access Fortnite on iOS, and that this is the only way for many people to play the game.
Epic is concerned that it will “never see these users again” (meaning a 60% drop); what his Fortnite the community of players was torn apart; and that some of his not-Fortnite customers were also collateral damage. As we reported last week, some of the other Epic games are no longer available for re-download, and Epic advises that its Shadow complex remaster was also removed from the Mac App Store after Apple closed Epic’s developer account.
Epic also claims that Apple is threatening to reject any attempts to apply for a new developer account “for at least a year”, citing a message from Apple itself, and claims that the damage it will suffer “losing access” to even one new user among more than a billion iOS users at least next year ”- harm worth creating a preliminary ban.
Much more can be read in the full text of the document. The first sentence is 38 pages long, not to mention the add-ons that Epic has attached.
Apple did not immediately respond to a request for comment, but we did not expect them to respond at this hour.
